Why Insecurity will still Remain a challenge In Parts Of Coastal Region

By Reagan Nyadimo

reagannyadimo@yahoo.com

With close to 200 deaths in a span less than 3 months, travel advisory from some international communities, critics from Kenyans and scathing attacks from media houses, one would have imagined that the government has put adequate measures to prevent further bloodshed in the coastal city.  Despite heavy presence of law enforcers in the region and few successful tactics employed by Kenya Defense forces that saw destruction of camps believed to militias’, parts of coastal region continue to witness some of the worst attacks in the history of this country. In the past few days alone, we have lost close to ten lives including that of an innocent child as many suffer gunshot wounds. This is not forgetting those who have been maimed and others that were forced to flee from their homes for security reasons. Even with the recent entry of Navy forces to help bring sanity to a region that in the recent past have been rocked with chaos, peace will still remain elusive for the following obvious reasons: 

Politics and Security

The insecurity in Coastal region has been politicized at the expense of lives. Both the government and the opposition have abortion blame to each other thereby hampering proper investigations that would have revealed the motive and the people behind the heinous attacks. The accusations and counter accusations have given leeway to militia groups to penetrate our security systems and course more havoc to already terrified residents in the coastal region. This raising tension has also been capitalized by armed robbers who have taken advantage of the situation to rob residence in broad day light and killing some in the process.

Shoddy Investigations 

We vividly recall the swift measures taken by the US government after two pressure cookers bombs exploded during the Boston Marathon killing 3 people and injuring an estimated 264 others. The president’s speech that was followed by action that brought to book those behind the killings only days after the incident. The opposite is Kenyan’s case where President’s speech is followed by a spate of killings and politicization of an already volatile situation. Three months after close to 70 people lost their lives in Mpeketoni massacre, Kenyans are still blank about the motive and people behind the attacks. This laxity of law enforcers to conduct proper investigations and initiate accurate attacks on the real people behind the heinous attacks is what is escalating the insecurity we are witnessing in parts of Coastal Kenya. Kenyans are still not sure whether these attacks are orchestrated by Alshabaab, leaders or radicalized youths.

Historical Injustices

Issues surrounding land, title deeds and squatters have existed in Coastal region since independence. The reluctance by former regimes to settle these issues 50 years later may be blamed for the current state of affairs in the Coastal region. The issuance of title deeds by the UhuruRuto government few months after rising to power seems not to have solved the problem. It is from this background that the government must move with speed to either revoke the earlier issued title deeds or listen to the pleas of the Coastal people and address them without delay. Land issues are among the many reasons cited for the recent spate of Killings in Mpeketoni where only men were targeted.

Until the government understands the reasons behinds the state of unrest in parts of Coastal city, more Kenyans will continue to lose their lives under different attacks that will be disguised in forms of radicalized youths, hooded gunmen or Alshabaab. This is an urgent course the government must take to protect the lives of Kenyans to avoid further bloodshed, tension and violence that is soon taking shape of ethnicity.