By Eric Wamanji
People, Kenya is grieving, and rightly so. But, we are a terrified lot. Very petrified like a goat whose handler is clutching a sparkly knife ready for the throat. When our compatriots are butchered in macabre cold blood, in masses, by a pitiless mujahedeen, within our frontiers, our hearts are shattered.
And to paraphrase Karl Marx’s Communist Manifesto, a specter is haunting Kenya – the specter of terrorism.
Our malls, dorms, bus parks, markets…aren’t safe. The chilling reality is of the news that the executors of the heinous acts are our very own, bred and educated. Worse, is that the profile of the today’s jihadist is not that of an illiterate and desperate hustler from Majengo, but of a sleek lawyer with a promising future. This revelation coils our intensities.
Poster child
Abdirahim Abdullahi, now the poster child of the Garissa Massacre, changes the narrative and the theory that poverty and marginalisation is to blame for radicalisation, to something complex that the security apparatuses have to grapple with.
And that is why we need a smart police service. Folks, gone are the days we recruited our cops based on cross-country, bribery and pathetic academic credentials. That is the monster we created and now coming to haunt us.
It is time the police service operate like listed blue chip. It must attract the finest talent, remunerate handsomely, inspire and it must fire for non-performance. Policing should shift from harassing mama mbogas and mama chang’aa, so beloved of our men in blue, to intellect, intelligence, rapid response and cooperation with Wanjiku.
Its official, the enemy is within us. But to beat this enemy, the police service, hoteliers, immigration officials, and Kenyans in general need to change instincts.
We need to cultivate social instincts than individualism in our national psyche and ethics. Social instincts mean selflessness, patriotism and aspiration to serve society, tenets in short supply amongst us, and, more so, the bribe-receiving cop.
The police service needs to know that to win such a battle, as is terrorism, it’s not about the old G3s and AK 47s. While artillery is crucial, the arsenal to win hearts and minds of Kenyans – read the psychology and communication – are indispensable.
Ideology
This is because, as it were, the mujahedeen seem to have spread his tendrils far and wide within our psych. First, he has made his agenda appear as if it is a clash of religion, and therefore seek sympathy from the Muslim community. Second, the mujahedeen is exploiting the hypocritical nature of the corrupt Christian who turns a blind eye to atrocities.
Our Pax Kenyania, if you will, that is dismantling the Al-Shabab cells in Somalia, is reason for the brazen attacks. Yet, withdrawal of the KDF is the most cowardly of acts our foreign policy can advise.
What we need is to fathom the mujahedeen and his tactics, and then use communicative dexterity, and psychological proficiency to counter it. That is the approach, Maj. Gen. Michael Nagata, commander of American Special Operations forces in the Middle East sought to pursue in his battle against ISIL. For him, to win the battle, he told The New York Times, he needed to urgently understand ISIL and it soft power to attract droves.
Soft Power
For our case, what is the soft power of Al-Shabab? Is it playing on the social economic marginalization real of perceived? Is it preying on the complacency of our police force or the individualistic nature of Kenyans? Is it playing on a country deeply divided on ethnic lines? Or is it preying on our sheer vanity of the love of money?
There is a weak link somewhere the enemy is exploiting.
This link needs to be dismantled. Acumen is desired considering, as we are all aware, this is a non-conventional warfare. It calls for sophistry in intelligence gathering, deciphering chaff from grain and surgical precision in countering. This means that, those chaps in our police stations need further retraining. It means that, to start with, merit should work in the force but also combing the country to cherry-pick the youthful and intelligent cops. Give them intensive training. Deploy them. Pay them well.
Special buffer zones like North Eastern and Coast, demand better pay and equipment for the cops as opposed to a lazy officer say in a police station like plush city neighbourhood Nairobi.
Morale
But it is sad, that even with our elite squad, the Recce, still mismanagement is rife. Press reports indicate how demoralized the unit is. What a shame. Truth be told, without morale and confidence in the team, nothing much can come out of it. Then, why can’t we increase the number of the Recce and spread the unit across the country?
The police cannot work without investing in the emotions of the country nor can they tackle crime in the want of rationally appreciating the need for the very perpetuity, pax and progress of motherland.
Then, our cops need to be as shrewd and cunning as Odysseus. I don’t know what happens in Kiganjo Police Training College, but going by what we see on the roads, estates and villages, the cops lack the basics of critical thinking, analytical prowess and community relations – all vital in tackling the war on terror.
At the helm, the communication unit is long dead. The service is pathetic in communication strategies that would endear the public to volunteer information. It has foolishly constructed ‘Us vs Them’ state of nature.
Yet, in the want of population support, the war on terror is an effort in futility.
Counter Propaganda
That is why the Kenya Police Service must employ what, Italian Philosopher Louis Althusser calls Ideological State Apparatus – the media, the school, the church and the family, as platforms to counter the propaganda and indoctrination tactics mercilessly imbued in society by radical clerics and teachers.
That is the way to win the hearts and minds of a population. Indeed, crucial battles are won or lost based the population support or lack of it.
Then, the cyber crime unit must be enhanced and decentralised. This way we can detect certain communication that are designed to coordinate execute terror. What Kenyans must know is that the error of freestyle living is long gone. It is the era of surveillance, communication, cooperation, and community. No more individualism.
And though there is a spectre haunting our country, we are capable of slaying the phantom.
Wamanji is a communication expert in Nairobi, teaches media studies. ewamanji@yahoo.co.uk @manjis