Government in circles over captured tanks

With Somali pirates holding at ransom 33 powerful tanks and world powers staring helplessly, Kenya’s government is running around in circles amidst controversy over the true destination of the weapons.

Last Thursday, Somali pirates seized a ship carrying more than 30 military tanks. Initial reports indicated the tanks were ordered by the government of Southern Sudan. Later on, Kenyan government spokesman Alfred Mutua confirmed that the tanks were heading to Kenya.

“The cargo in the ship includes military hardware such as tanks and an assortment of spare parts for use by different branches of the Kenyan military,” Mutua said.

The pirates from the Somali district of Puntland denied Kenya’s claims, citing documents within the ship pointing to the ultimate destination of the cargo as South Sudan. The United States, which has a warship actively monitoring the hijacked vessel, has announced that the deadly cargo was headed for South Sudan.

What makes the saga intriguing is that Sudan is under a United Nations arms embargo; hence the government of South Sudan has categorically denied ownership of the arms shipment. Over the years, Kenya has been a close ally of the South Sudanese, right from the days of guerrilla conflict between the Sudan Peoples Liberation Movement and the Khartoum government.

Press interviews with Kenyan military personnel shows that the Army neither ordered the tanks nor was it aware of an incoming shipment. On the other hand, it has been reported that Kenyan authorities are in possession of documents confirming ownership of the captured weaponry.

Amidst this potentially explosive situation (no pun intended), Kenya’s political leadership is still immersed in its never-ending game of retrogressive ethnic politics. Hardly a word has been heard from President Mwai Kibaki. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Raila Odinga is engaged in maneuvering within the ODM party in readiness for the 2012 presidential elections.

Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka has drawn the ire of many by insinuating that he was an ‘acting’ commander in chief while President Kibaki was attending the UN Heads of State summit in New York.

It has been rumored that the tanks are indeed for the Kenyan military but were ordered without the knowledge of army chiefs by politically-connected persons. Military contracts tend to be highly lucrative due to secrecy in procurement.

In spite of having suffered the side-effects of Somalia’s lawlessness in the past 17 years, Kenya has taken a complete back seat in the search for stability in the Horn of Africa. The Transitional Federal Government (TFG) crafted in Nairobi in 2004 was a patchwork of warlords with no interest in creating a peaceful society. TFG President Abdullahi Yussuf is the warlord for Puntland, where piracy activities are centered.

Problems in Somalia worsened in December 2006, when the United States decided to overthrow the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC). By mid 2006, the UIC had succeeded in creating a functional government in Somalia for the first time since clan warfare wrecked the country in 1991.

During the short-lived reign of the UIC, piracy in the Indian Ocean almost ceased but with its overthrow, piracy has grown faster than before.

Typical of its lack of foresight, the Kenyan government provided logistical support and intelligence that enabled the US and Ethiopia to remove the Islamists from power.

Secret tank deal shows poor priorities

A secret tank deal by Kenya’s Army would have gone unnoticed if Somali pirates hadn’t hijacked a Ukrainian ship ferrying the 33 tanks to the port of Mombasa.

The Russian built T-72 tank can run on three types of fuel: diesel, benzene and kerosene.

Its not clear when the Department of Defence placed an order for T-72 tanks from Russia. The Army has not explained how much it spent on the equipment, neither has it explained the role of the 33 tanks in Kenya’s security strategy.

Apart from tanks, Somali pirates found tons of ammunition and auxiliary equipment within the ship, which they have threatened to offload for use in their country’s civil war. The pirates are demanding US$35 million in ransom before they release the vessel and its cargo.

Typical of most African governments, Kenya’s leaders are spending billions of dollars on security while ordinary people die of hunger, disease and poor shelter. Kenya ranks at the bottom of international social and economic indicators.

A growing population is putting pressure on neglected infrastructure. Public hospitals lack drugs as thousands of Kenyans perish each year on a road network broken to the point of tatters. Kenyan cities are going without fresh water due to lack of investment in water production.

The capital city of Nairobi is getting less water today than it was receiving a decade ago after a colonial era dam collapsed at Sasumua. The port city of Mombasa gets water from a supply system built by the British when the town’s population was less than a third of current figures.

Lack of investment in electricity production has made Kenya’s electricity tariffs the highest in Africa. Industries suffer from constant power blackouts which have undermined economic growth, leading to massive losses and job cuts.

Agricultural production in Kenya is far below demand. The country is producing less coffee, maize, tea, wheat, millet and everything else compared to twenty years ago. Sugar milling companies in Western Kenya, stuck with 19th century technology, are creaking out low quality sugar in significantly less quantities than when Kenya was a British colony.

Amidst all these, the Kenyan government has seen it fit to invest billions of shillings in military equipment. As stated earlier, if it wasn’t for Somali pirates, majority of Kenyans would never have known that tanks were about to get imported into the country. But, lack of priority in government procurement appears to be the norm these days.

Its been announced that Kenya will spend about $23 million in the purchase of second-hand fighter jets from the Kingdom of Jordan. The F-5 fighter that the Kenyan Airforce is so fond of went out of production in 1989, meaning that the jets Kenya is buying are at least 19 years old. Kenya will also pay Jordan to train its pilots in using the junk aircraft.

Meanwhile, other branches of the security forces are on a shopping bonanza. Regular and Administration police have enhanced their recruitment drives to boost numbers. They are receiving modern equipment, weapons, 4-wheel drive trucks, uniforms and riot gear. Considering the conduct of police during the post-election violence, its obvious that this enhanced expenditure is not for the benefit of ordinary men and women.

The Kenya Police has just finished rehabilitating giant Russian-built helicopters fitted with night-vision equipment, gun detectors and communications technology. The helicopters will carry a team of quick response officers assisted by highly trained dogs.

Just this week, the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights – a government body – blamed police for the execution of 500 Kikuyu youth and the disappearance of scores of others. According to survivors, the dead and the disappeared were all abducted by people identifying themselves as police officers. A man whose dramatic arrest in Nairobi was shown on the front page of the Daily Nation, was later found dead in the city mortuary.

For most Kenyans, the acquisition of helicopters, night vision equipment and vicious dogs can only portend doom as far as personal freedoms are concerned.

By purchasing bigger weapons to arm a greater number of police and soldiers, the Kenyan government is treading a path set by authorities in situations of high wealth inequality. Kenya is among the top three most unequal societies on earth.

On one hand there is an extremely wealthy minority whose standard of living can comfortably secure them a place among the world’s rich and famous. On the opposite extreme is a majority of people without access to adequate food, housing, health care and education. These are people whose future is so bleak that the only options are crime, prostitution, alcoholism and violence.

Amidst this depressing scenario, authorities seek to preserve the status quo by unleashing greater surveillance of the disadvantaged majority. The objective is to make life safer and easier for the rich minority.

The fruits of economic growth are used to buy guns instead of building roads. Public funds are used to buy tanks instead of medicines for government hospitals. In an unequal society, the government will find it better to employ soldiers and police rather than employing doctors and teachers. Instead of facilitating constructive engagement between the rich and the poor, the system is designed to keep them apart.

Such trends have happened elsewhere and Kenya is blindly going down the same path. Unfortunately, that particular path usually ends up in self-destruction, for the human spirit cannot tolerate oppression forever.

Kenyan tanks captured by Somali pirates

In the latest embarrassment for Kenya’s government, 33 newly-ordered tanks have been captured by Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean.

Kenya Army soldiers with a US Army instructor. Picture by the US Army.

According to the Daily Nation, Somali pirates on Thursday afternoon seized a ship carrying more than 30 military tanks in a dramatic hijacking that sent ripples in the maritime industry.

The BBC reports Kenyan government spokesman Alfred Mutua as confirming that the tanks were heading to Kenya. “The cargo in the ship includes military hardware such as tanks and an assortment of spare parts for use by different branches of the Kenyan military,” he said.

A Russian Navy vessel is heading to the region and the US says it is monitoring developments in the area.

The crisis in Somalia is back in the limelight as Somali pirates hijack dozens of ships, thereby threatening shipping routes in the Indian Ocean. Meanwhile, Islamic insurgents have intensified attacks against a US backed government and now control Somalia’s port city of Kismayu. It is feared that renewed fighting will disrupt food supplies to millions of Somalis currently living in camps and ravaged by natural disasters.

Incidentally, most of the pirate gangs are based in the region of Puntland, controlled by militiamen loyal to Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf. Recently, though, pirate activities have spread to the south of the country as violence rages.

Problems in Somalia worsened in December 2006, when the United States decided to overthrow the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC). By mid 2006, the UIC had succeeded in creating a functional government in Somalia for the first time since clan warfare wrecked the country in 1991.

During the short-lived reign of the UIC, piracy in the Indian Ocean almost ceased but with its overthrow, piracy has grown faster than before.

Police death squads exposed in Mungiki war

A government human rights body has implicated Kenyan police in the abduction, torture and execution of at least 500 young men. Scores of others arrested from their homes cannot be found.

In its report, the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights says that top political leaders working with police commanders were aware of the death squads. Last year, Cabinet minister John Michuki, predicted that there would be “many funerals” of Mungiki members.

The report further accuses police officers of kidnapping, torture and extortion on the pretext of anti-Mungiki operations. For the unfortunate victims, payment of a ransom was no security against death. The commission has documented cases where individuals were hunted down and killed after paying ransom.

Mungiki, popular with disillusioned youth from the Kikuyu ethnic group, is calling for a return to traditional African spirituality. It despises Christianity as a colonial religion. In the teeming slums of Kenya’s cities and in rural squatter settlements, Mungiki has grown by providing casual jobs, protection, housing and other social services.

The Mungiki are calling for a generational change in Kenya to pave way for youthful leadership. According to Mungiki, Kenya’s current leaders are remnants of, “colonial home-guards.”

Since its beginnings in the 1980s, the group’s membership has grown to the lower millions. It has become a formidable political and quasi-militia force that has drawn the wrath of State security machinery. Kenya’s government declared war against the group in mid 2007.

The Kenya Police force, however, faces little condemnation for its actions. The ethnic affiliation of Mungiki has spawned fear of Kikuyu nationalism in the rest of Kenya’s tribes, especially after political and ethnic clashes earlier this year. Consequently, there has been no criticism of police tactics against Mungiki.

Mungiki’s leader and founder, Maina Njenga, is serving a five year jail term on weapons and drug possession charges. Mr Njenga says police falsified the charges against him. After his arrest, the state turned Mr Njenga’s mansion in Kitengela into a, “police station.” Kenyan police rarely confiscate property from criminal suspects.

Earlier this year, Njenga’s wife, Virginia Nyakio, was abducted, raped and beheaded by persons believed to be working for the state. Within a few days, two top officials of the Kenya National Youth Alliance – Mungiki’s party – were gunned down by unidentified people along the Nairobi – Naivasha highway. The two were on their way to see Mr Njenga in prison. One of the dead was a brother to Virginia Nyakio’s driver. According to eye-witnesses, the gunmen in the daylight shooting first identified themselves as police.

Mr Njenga has vowed not to allow the funeral of his murdered wife until the government drops all charges against him. Her body has been lying in a morgue ever since.

In April, Mungiki engaged riot police in national demonstrations to protest constant killings. Railway lines were uprooted and national highways blocked. The violence ended when Prime Minister Raila Odinga offered to negotiate with them. Police withdrew from Maina Njenga’s mansion in an apparent goodwill gesture from the government. Television footage showed the building suffering from extreme vandalism. Apparently police officers lit cooking fires on the living room floor.

The report by the Kenya National Human Rights Commission accused police of using unmarked vehicles to abduct Mungiki youth, most of whose bodies have been found in woodlands outside the capital city. Police deny they are involved in the killings. However, in parts of Central Province and in the slums of Nairobi, young men live in fear of abduction.

Public opinion in Kenya is split between those calling for dialogue with Mungiki and those insisting on tough measures. Majority of Kenyans associate Mungiki with extortion, crime and murder.

Numerous scholars and journalists have attempted to analyze Mungiki. The explanations of the Mungiki phenomenon are as varied as the number of papers and press articles about the group.

However, all agree that the Mungiki is a product of a dysfunctional society and without a change in the way Kenya is governed, Mungiki is likely to become a much bigger and dangerous phenomenon.

Somali pirates seize 30 tanks

Pirates off the coast of Somalia have seized a Ukrainian ship carrying 30 tanks headed for the port of Mombasa, an official has said.

Ukraine’s foreign ministry said the ship had a crew of 21. The tanks were ordered by the Southern Sudan government.

More on this story from the BBC >>

Munyes destroys NSSF goodwill

Within a month, Labour Minister John Munyes has single-handedly laid to waste NSSF efforts to redeem its image.

A consistent public relations campaign by NSSF (National Social Security Fund) in the past several years had succeeded in changing Kenyans’ perception of the state-controlled pension fund.

By the middle of this year, NSSF was winning awards for good performance. For the first time in history, the Fund published its financial reports in the press. Also for the first time, an Annual General Meeting was held, bringing together workers, trade unions, the government and the media. In short, the Fund had recovered from the legacy of past corruption.

Then along comes John Munyes. With one sweep of his ministerial powers, Munyes has sucked NSSF into the political black hole. Since dismissing Managing Trustee Rachel Lumbasyo, and replacing her with an acting Managing Trustee, things have changed at NSSF. Decision making has been hindered as two antagonistic camps have emerged within the Fund.

Politicians have joined the fray as billions of shillings contributed by Kenyan workers present easy pickings. Not forgetting the possibilities of jobs for relatives and lucrative procurement tenders.

The ODM-PNU coalition tussles have reared their head at NSSF as either side is claiming the post of Managing Trustee as its fair share of the 50-50 Grand Coalition deal.

This month alone, NSSF has received lots of damaging publicity thanks to Munyes. As any marketing strategist will tell you, it takes a long time to build trust but only a few minutes to tarnish a reputation.

By the mid 1990s, NSSF was virtually bankrupted by extortionist deals made by well-connected personalities. Individuals would use their proximity to President Daniel arap Moi to get public land almost for free. Within days, the same plots of land would be sold to NSSF for hundreds of millions of shillings. Considering the political climate at the time, NSSF had little choice over the matter.

That explains why NSSF ended up purchasing abandoned quarries at Embakasi. However, the Fund managed to sell the plots to city residents eager to invest in housing.

Prominent lawyers made millions of shillings by providing legal services to the Fund. Whether by design or accident, the lawyers were assigned cases related to fellow well-connected individuals, mostly from Moi’s KANU party.

During the late 1990s, with the Fund facing a financial crisis, the government decided to employ professional managers in a bid to secure workers’ contributions. Individuals such as David Masika and Jos Konzolo played a key role in stabilizing NSSF finances. From the year 2000 until the present moment, there was a dramatic reduction in financial scandals at NSSF. The only major scam was a Shs250 million deposit with Euro Bank which led to the dismissal and prosecution of former Managing Trustee Ben Mtuweta.

With time, NSSF has improved its payment record and retirees get their cash within days from district offices. Information Technology capacity has been enhanced, though there’s room for progress.

The Fund’s financial situation is vastly improved with steady income from its investment in shares, real estate and government securities. NSSF is a significant shareholder in Kenya Power & Lighting, National Bank and other well-known companies.

Recruitment for a new Managing Trustee is underway but with the Labour Minister itching to exercise his powers, whoever gets the job will continually be seeking approval before making key decisions.  For millions of Kenyan workers painstakingly saving for retirement, developments at NSSF cannot be good news.

UDM an emerging force in Rift Valley

About a decade ago, Cyrus Jirongo and Kipruto arap Kirwa fell out with President Daniel arap Moi. The two were youthful legislators in the ruling Kenya African National Union (KANU) and felt unappreciated by Moi.

In revenge, and fully aware of Moi’s loathing for multi-party politics, Jirongo and Kirwa founded the United Democratic Movement (UDM). The new party electrified crowds in the Kalenjin heartlands, long considered Moi strongholds. In reality, the duo didn’t say anything new but their open opposition to Moi in his own turf raised eyebrows. UDM soon got backing from other Kalenjin politicians hitting back at Moi.

The government declined to register UDM. Within months, Moi had bought off Jirongo and Kirwa by giving them plum positions in his government. Kalenjin politicians who had joined UDM were later seen in press photographs sharing hearty jokes with the president. After that, UDM became dormant. Until now.

UDM’s rise as a third force in the Rift Valley was sparked by dissatisfaction with electoral nominations in the ODM party. The Kalenjin had thrown their weight wholesomely behind ODM and its presidential candidate, Raila Odinga. They were so fond of Raila that they baptized him, ‘arap Mibey.’

Last November, there was intense competition for the party’s ticket among Kalenjin politicians. By then, it had become clear that whoever was nominated as the ODM candidate would have a walk-over during the General Election. Lots of candidates were disappointed by the chaos of the nomination exercise, with claims of favoritism and intimidation. A few of the candidates were nominated directly from Nairobi. That is when UDM emerged as an alternative political vehicle in the Rift Valley.

Both its founders ran for the discredited 2007 polls in other political parties. Kipruto Kirwa contested the Cherangany seat in President Mwai Kibaki’s Party of National Unity (PNU). Meanwhile, Jirongo ran for his Lugari seat in another self-created party: the Kenya African Democratic Development Union (KADDU).

As stated earlier, the ODM wave in Kalenjin land was too strong and Kirwa was swept out of Cherangany by a new comer. In Lugari, Jirongo associated himself with Raila’s ODM and managed to retake the seat after five years in the cold.

UDM was back in the limelight after the elections. There was a by election in Ainamoi constituency following the murder of its legislator, David Kimutai Too, days after he was sworn into parliament. The ODM command settled on his brother to succeed him, resulting in disquiet among other party functionaries. One of them defected to UDM and ran against the ODM candidate. Campaigning by Eldoret North MP, William Ruto, helped ODM win back the seat.

Now, UDM is exploiting the troubles within ODM over impending party elections and the Mau forest saga. Politicians from the Kipsigis community felt short-changed in cabinet appointments to the giant coalition last April. The late Kipkalya Kones was appointed as Minister for Roads but his death in June robbed the community of a major political personality. None of the current politicians can fill such a high-profile position. However, that hasn’t stopped them from making their discontent obvious.

There is a perception within the community that President Mwai Kibaki had fired many Kalenjin after he took over the presidency from Moi in 2003. ODM capitalized on these sentiments during the 2007 election campaigns and promised to re-appoint senior Kalenjin professionals into government.

By far the greatest reason for Kalenjin supporting ODM was the promise of a Majimbo federal constitution. Majimbo was expected to give the Kalenjin a greater say in the management of land, taxes, minerals and forests within their Rift Valley homeland.

The Kalenjin are unhappy with Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s decision to evict their ethnic compatriots from the Mau forest. The government says that the Mau forest water catchment is being destroyed at a fast rate and could endanger the flow of water into Lake Victoria. The Kalenjin say they have legitimate title deeds to land in the Mau forest.

Deep down though, and something that is not spoken openly, the Kalenjin are unhappy with Raila’s rapprochement with President Kibaki and the Kikuyu community. An announcement that Raila would be anointed as a Kikuyu elder did not amuse ODM supporters. The Kalenjin also believe that thousands of their youths were arrested over post election violence and want them released before they allow the return of internal refugees mostly from the Kikuyu and Kisii ethnic groups.

The manner in which candidates for the Sotik and Bomet by elections were selected also fed the discontent. In Bomet, ODM nominated a widow to the late Kipkalya Kones while in Sotik, the party’s candidate is a sister to the deceased legislator.

As campaigns for this week’s by elections in Bomet and Sotik heat up, Kipsigis politicians are backing candidates from other parties against those sponsored by their own ODM party. In Sotik, Isaac Ruto, who is emerging as a dissident voice within ODM, openly defied Raila and campaigned for a UDM candidate. Observers see the move as an open declaration of war.

With dissatisfaction brewing within ODM in the Rift Valley, the party to watch could by UDM. It’s not clear what agenda the party has but it’s a fact that UDM can no longer be ignored as a protest party.

Michuki rules did not work

An upsurge in road accidents in Kenya has led to calls for the return of John Michuki to the Ministry of Transport. Motoring analysts however say that the Michuki rules did not work because they merely focused on punishing bus and matatu operators.

Public service vehicles on a Kenyan highway

Scores of people have died on Kenyan roads in recent weeks. Most of the accidents involve minibus taxis, popularly referred to as matatus. Other accidents involve long distance buses and trucks plying the roads between the port city of Mombasa and the interior.

Deaths from road accidents may surpass the 3,000 fatalities a year mark that was the norm before the Michuki rules of 2004. The rules were introduced by Kangema legislator, John Michuki, who was the Transport Minister at the time. The Michuki rules forced all commercial vehicle owners to install speed governors set at 80 kilometres per hour. On city roads, the speed limit was enforced at 50 kilometres per hour.

Carrying of standing passengers in city buses was banned. Meanwhile, the passenger capacity of matatus was reduced from 18 passengers to 13. In addition, crews of buses and matatus had to be vetted by police and receive a Certificate of Good Conduct before getting employment. Ex-convicts and school dropouts were immediately locked out of public transport business.

Michuki made it mandatory for bus and matatu crews to be in uniform and to have their pictures posted in the vehicle. So tough were the rules that matatu conductors could be jailed for rudeness!

After the rules were introduced in February 2004, there was an immediate reduction in road accidents and Kenyans felt that a new era of road safety had set in. However, the shortlived success of the Michuki rules came at a price.

Fares rose by at least 50% as bus and matatu operators raised money for speed governors, seatbelts and uniforms. Public transport operators were subjected stringent inspections and this, inevitably, added to operating expenses. At the same time, the reduction in carrying capacity meant lower income per trip, amidst rising costs occasioned by a tattered road network. In certain routes, fares almost doubled.

At least a third of public transport vehicles went out of business as owners could not afford the rapid implementation sought by the Michuki rules. Others decided to venture into school transport and car-hire business whose operations were not subjected to police harassment.

“In effect, what the Michuki rules did was to reduce the number of vehicles on the road while reducing the number of passengers in each vehicle,” explains a motoring analyst. “The immediate increase in fares forced people to cut down on travelling, meaning that each passenger was exposed to a lower risk.”

“Lets say, for example, that 5% of vehicles will be involved in an accident. What happened after February 2004 was that you had fewer vehicles, each vehicle carrying fewer passengers, and each passenger travelling less often. Therefore, even if the percentage rate of accidents was the same as before, the actual figures would be lower. That is to say, 5% of 30,000 vehicles will produce a lower figure than 5% of 40,000 vehicles.”

“This is what happened with the Michuki rules and Kenyans believed that the accident rate had gone down, which was not the case.”

By 2005, the high fares in the public transport industry had attracted massive private-sector investment. There was a sharp increase in the numbers of new public transport vehicles. Intense competition forced operators to reduce prices. By 2006, public transport fares were down to pre-2004 levels. Passengers began travelling more often.

With more vehicles on the road, and each passenger travelling more frequently, the actual road accident figures began rising.

Motoring analysts say that road accidents in Kenya are caused by a poor driving culture, badly designed and neglected roads and poor enforcement of existing traffic laws. Kenyan police are notorious for demanding bribes from motorists.

As matatu operators often say, why bother maintaining your vehicle when its cheaper to bribe the cops?

The fall of Thabo Mbeki

Many within the African National Congress (ANC) believed that Thabo Mbeki was an inveterate plotter, and they had the scars to prove it. Now he has been made to pay the price.

The former South African president’s alleged role in plotting against Mr Jacob Zuma, his former deputy, was the last straw.

While serving as deputy president under Nelson Mandela, it was Mr Mbeki who chaired the key committee that negotiated the controversial $5bn (£2.7bn) deal to modernize the country’s defence force.

Read more on Thabo Mbeki from the Famous people news magazine >>

Somalia war returns to the limelight

Long forgotten by the world, the crisis in Somalia is back in the limelight as Somali pirates hijack dozens of ships, thereby threatening shipping routes in the Indian Ocean.

Meanwhile, Islamic insurgents have intensified attacks against a US backed government and now control Somalia’s port city of Kismayu. It is feared that renewed fighting will disrupt food supplies to millions of Somalis currently living in camps and ravaged by drought and flooding disasters.

Incidentally, most of the pirate gangs are based in the region of Puntland, controlled by militiamen loyal to Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf. Recently, though, pirate activities have spread to the south of the country as violence rages.

Problems in Somalia worsened in December 2006, when the United States decided to overthrow the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC). By mid 2006, the UIC had succeeded in creating a functional government in Somalia for the first time since clan warfare wrecked the country in 1991.

During the short-lived reign of the UIC, piracy in the Indian Ocean almost ceased but with its overthrow, piracy has grown faster than before.

The United States fears that the UIC will create an Islamic caliphate in East Africa. Ethiopia, which is battling a Somali insurgency in its Ogden province, supported the US and sent troops into Somalia. Kenya, which also has a Somali minority, closed its border and arrested dozens of UIC fighters. US and Ethiopian airstrikes destroyed the Islamic Courts militia, forcing the movement underground and its leaders into exile.

This year, the Islamic Al-Shabaab youth group has intensified attacks against President Yusuf and the Ethiopian Army resulting in heavy losses on all sides. A few Ugandan soldiers in the African Union peacekeeping force have died in the fighting. In August, Al-Shabaab recaptured the southern city of Kismayu. Last Tuesday, Al-Shabaab threatened to shoot down any aircraft landing or taking off from Mogadishu Airport. Private airline operators kept off, further undermining the US backed government.

Between 1960 and the 1980s, Somalia was a theatre for proxy wars between the United States and the Soviet Union. Indeed, the Somali president at the time, General Mohamed Siad Barre, shifted loyalties between the two powers several times. Somalia is attractive to world powers because of its strategic location at the mouth of the Red Sea.

General Barre exploited rivalries between Somali clans to stay in power. By 1990, the countryside was plunged into lawlessness by clan fighting and defections from the Somali Army. General Barre was scorned as, ” the Mayor of Mogadishu.” In 1991, Mogadishu was no longer safe and Barre fled into exile. He died in Nigeria a few years later.

A United Nations intervention ended in 1993 after the UN and the United States got entangled in the complexities of Somali clan politics. Several UN and US soldiers were killed during the intervention. Meanwhile, warlords fought for control of highways, towns, plantations, airports and sea ports.

In 2004, the Somali Transitional government was formed in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. The transitional government was doomed to fail as it was composed of warlords. President Yusuf himself was a warlord in the self-declared Republic of Puntland, where Somali piracy is centred. Infighting among the warlords prevented the Transitional government from settling in Mogadishu.

Somali warlords are believed be sponsored by multinational companies, regional and international powers eager to influence events in Somalia. The biggest culprits are the Arab world, Libya, Ethiopia, Eritrea and the United States.

Amidst the vacuum, Somali Muslim clerics united under the Union of Islamic Courts. They begin setting up administrative, judicial and security structures in Mogadishu. By 2006, the UIC controlled most of Somalia, except President Yusuf’s Puntland and the northern breakaway region of Somaliland.

For the first time in 15 years, the Somali people had a real chance of peace under a stable government with popular legitimacy. Unfortunately, the US war on terror crushed those hopes. The US accused the Islamic Courts government of sheltering terror suspects, and of having an expansionist agenda. Since the overthrow of the Islamic Courts, fighting in Somalia assumed a fresh intensity never seen since 1991.

As long as the Somali crisis was confined to the people of Somalia, the world could continue with business as usual. With Somalis now attacking ships and capturing hundreds of sailors from across the world, this may be the time to talk with the Union of Islamic Courts.