Why Boni residents feel like second-class citizens

Lamu residents in areas previously hit by terrorist incidents are like a cursed lot.

They live without the government services that they are supposed to get.

Most villagers, especially those inside the dense Boni forest, have no education, health, water or transport infrastructure, all thanks to frequent attacks, attempted attacks and killings committed by Al-Shabaab militants.

In September 2015, the national government started a security operation called Linda Boni, whose objective was to flush out Al-Shabaab militants believed to be hiding in the forest, from where they launch attacks on civilians and security officers in Lamu.

Eight years later, the ongoing operation has restored peace and stability by reducing the number of attacks and killings.

Boni forest villages that were prone to frequent terrorist attacks included Pandanguo, Bodhai, Milimani, Basuba, Mangai, Mararani and Kiangwe.

But why are residents in these villages being treated like second-class citizens in their own country?

Residents, mostly from the Boni minority community, have borne the brunt of terrorism.

They lacked crucial government services, top among them the issuing of national identity cards.

Acquiring birth documents, not to mention IDs and passports, was always a hassle for residents.

The majority of children don't have birth certificates.

An area administrator, who talked to the Nation on the condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to reporters, said Boni children don’t have the documents because many are born at home and not at health facilities.

“All our villages are located inside or close to the infamous Boni forest. This is an area that is listed as terror-prone owing to the fact that they are easily targeted whenever Al-Shabaab militants launch terror attacks in the county,” the administrator.

“Our dispensaries and health facilities in these areas have long closed down after they were vandalised and torched by suspected militants. That means our children here are born at home and we have no birth notification to enable us to even get the birth certificate.”

He added: “That's why most of our children here have no documents. We have those who have reached adulthood but acquiring an ID is a major issue here.”

Habona Jilo claimed she was turned away by the office of the registrar of persons whenever she went to register her three children for birth certificates.

“I went looking for birth certificates and they asked me to produce a notification which I don't have and have no idea what it is. They told me they can't go ahead to process the certificate without the notification,” Ms Jilo said.

She appealed to the government to make an exception for the Bonis, arguing that their situation is known to everyone.

On the Kenya-Somalia border, the villages of Kiunga, Ishakani, Madina, Kiwayu and Mkokoni, and Witu on the Lamu-Tana River border, many youths also face the same challenge when seeking identity cards.

“We always found ourselves on the wrong side of the law once arrested for walking around without ID cards. In such a scenario, it becomes extremely hard to explain ourselves out of the situation, considering our homes are located close to the Boni forest,” said Ahmed Islam, of Ishakani village.

“We’re treated like terror suspects just because we can't produce IDs when prompted by security.”

Salim Farah said he and his peers can't get jobs as potential employers demand ID cards and other documentation that they are unable to produce.

Many of them, he said, have missed out on lucrative and life-changing opportunities just because they don't have IDs.

The movement of citizens in most of the security-operation areas are also limited, affecting them socially and economically.

For instance, the Boni are among Kenya's last forest communities that have historically depended on the forest for their survival.

They are hunters and gatherers.

They make their living by hunting wild animals and gathering wild fruits, roots, and honey, among other activities.

Since Operation Linda Boni began in 2015, the Boni people have been banned from setting foot in the forest.

As a result, they struggle to make a living, having lived for decades as forest people and finding it hard to adopt modern means of survival like farming.

The region has also witnessed unfavourable climatic conditions, including drought, limiting farming. Wild animals and pests also destroy the crops of those who venture into farming.

This has subjected the Boni to a life of poverty and made them dependent on humanitarian aid from the national government or well-wishers.

“We’ve been denied access to our ancestral forest, where we used to hunt, gather wild fruits and harvest honey to keep our families afloat. If you're found trespassing inside the forest by security agencies, that's the end of you,” said Mr Abdallah Mahazi of Mararani village.

Locals say their usual freedom of movement was also hampered by the terrorist incidents.

Residents now travel by sea, which is expensive, rather than by road.

“We can't travel using the Kiunga-Basuba-Hindi road for fear of either being victimised by security agencies or attacked and killed by the unpredictable Al-Shabaab. We now prefer using boats to Lamu because water transport, though expensive, is a bit safer,” said Abdallah Wakati of Kiangwe.

The community also blamed the state for focusing on security and leaving other sectors unattended.

Fatma Shizo, a Boni community elder and a renowned traditional birth attendant, said the Boni face the challenge of lack of a functional health sector and a reliable and consistent education system.

All the five primary schools in Boni areas are partially operational, with only early learning classes open.

Health services are also a major challenge as all the dispensaries in the area have been closed for over eight years now, after medical staff fled the villages for fear of Al-Shabaab attacks that had become the norm for the community.

Ms Shizo said the government has neglected the Boni.

“In the 21st century, the Boni mother or baby still has no hospital to go to. Our pregnant mothers are delivering at home. Are we a cursed generation just because we are living within operation areas? We deserve as many services from the government as possible, like all other citizens of this country,” said Ms Shizo.

Nuno Ali, an elder, sent a special call to the new county government under governor-elect Issa Abdallah Timamy to take seriously the issue of lack of medical services in the Boni forest and resolve it promptly.

“We survive by God's mercy. If only the county and national governments would effectively exercise their mandate even to us, we wouldn't be poor like this,” said Mr Ali.

Khadija Gurba, a community activist in Mangai village, lamented that pregnant mothers and their babies died during delivery due to the lack of health centres.

“The new devolved government has the mandate to ensure we have such services. We can't keep depending on herbalists forever. Devolution was meant to make lives easier, but for us, that's not the case,” Ms Gurba said.

But County Commissioner Irungu Macharia defended the government, saying it has done a lot to restore peace and stability in the Boni forest and other volatile areas of Lamu.

Mr Macharia noted that most schools in the Boni forest were reopened and pupils, especially those in lower classes, were learning like the rest.

He asked residents to be patient.

“The issue of ID cards is now handled by the assistant chiefs in those areas which we posted. They act as the assistant registrar of persons in their villages,” Mr Macharia said.

“They are mandated to take records of all births and deaths. I don’t think acquiring such documents for the Bonis will be a problem anymore.”

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