Need to up counter-terrorism ante despite strides since Westgate siege

Westgate shopping mall

Then Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero (right) cuts the ribbon at Westgate shopping mall on July 18, 2015 to mark its reopening after the 2013 terror attack.

Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group

What you need to know:

  • The Westgate terrorist attack of 2013 was a major turning point in the country’s approach to countering violent extremism and terrorism.
  • While the country has suffered terrorist attacks after Westgate our national security architecture has significantly reigned on the scourge.

Eight years ago today, in 2013, the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi suffere a terrorist attack in which 67 shoppers were killed and more than 200 others injured by Al-Shabaab gunmen. 

Four hooded men stormed the complex in a mass killing and destruction spree in a four-day siege that marked one of Kenya’s darkest moments in the war on terror.

Yet Kenyans refused to bow to terrorism. In July 2015, the upmarket mall reopened to the public in a major show of resolve by the people to resiliently dust themselves off and chalk a new path in the face of adversity. 

However, the attack was a major turning point in the country’s approach to countering violent extremism and terrorism. A number of institutional changes were operationalised — including establishment of the National Counter-Terrorism Centre (NCTC), a creation of the Security Laws Amendment Act, at the fall of 2014. 

Through coordination of counter-terrorism efforts with government partners and other stakeholders, NCTC has played an instrumental role in detecting, deterring and disrupting terrorist activities is the country. 

Threat of terrorism

While the country has suffered terrorist attacks after Westgate — such as the Garissa University attack in 2015 and the 2019 dusitD2 complex raid — our national security architecture has significantly reigned on the scourge. The level of apprehension and social paralysis that terrorists had cultivated within our communal spaces has subsided.

Secondly, Kenya’s legal system has evolved and become more responsive to the threat of terrorism and violent extremism. It is now possible to legally isolate terror elements from the wider community, which means that only those culpable for terrorist atrocities shall be held accountable.

In October 2020, for instance, Mohamed Ahmed Abdi and Hussein Hassan Mustafa were sentenced to 18 years imprisonment each for aiding the Westgate assailants. Abdi was handed an additional15-year jail sentence for possession of terrorism promoting materials. Earlier, in June 2019, three people were jailed for their role in the Garissa University massacre that claimed 147 lives.

Thirdly, thanks to a spirited partnership bringing together communities, civil society and government agencies, fewer young people are drawn to terrorism. In June 2020, over 300 young people from the coastal region, who had been lured into Somalia by the Al-Shabaab, renounced their training and returned home. Such trends have reduced the pool size for extremist agenda while reinforcing the banality of terrorist ideology. 

Upstaging violent extremism

But even with such tremendous gains, it is critical to acknowledge that the vice remains alive in our troubled neighbourhood. Sporadic attacks are still reported even as the authorities continue to thwart multiple threats. It will take more proactive and sustainable measures for the country to fully recover from the vagaries of terrorism.

Considered to be the greatest threat to global peace and security, terrorism feeds on the impressionable minds of young people, who often fall to phony spectacles staged by recruiters. It will take heightened surveillance by communities and the authorities to flush out terror agents before they peddle their toxic ideas to the public. Online surveillance through international partnerships is particularly critical since terrorists now leverage digital technology to radicalise and recruit.

The use of hard power alone is not enough in upstaging violent extremism. This is a vital lesson that has found relevance in many communities around the world. The government must optimise development programmes that can guarantee the youth a reasonable basis of subsistence and draw them away from the spectacle that is terrorism. 

The State should seal all the loopholes that make it possible for terrorists to continue having a footprint in the country. From adequately equipping responsible agencies to modernising legal regimes, the State’s unyielding capacity to protect lives and property from the scourge should always manifest.

Finally, terrorism being a global crime, Kenya should enhance global cooperation with its international partners to defeat it at home. Several extremist groups are gaining traction around the world. The complex web of dependence among them can only be dismantled through international cooperation. 

Mr Cavince is a scholar of international relations. @Cavinceworld