Senior Kenyan Official: This is About Our Long-term Development Plan

[xiinfaniin]

When Kenya sent columns of troops storming across Somalia’s border on Oct. 16, government officials initially said that they were chasing kidnappers who had recently abducted four Westerners, two from beachside bungalows on the Kenyan coast, and that Kenya had to defend its billion-dollar tourism industry.

 

But on Wednesday, Alfred Mutua, the Kenyan government’s chief spokesman, revised this rationale, saying the kidnappings were more of a “good launchpad.”

...

 

“An operation of this magnitude is not planned in a week,” Mr. Mutua said. “It’s been in the pipeline for a while.”

 

Many analysts wonder how Kenya will be able to defy history and stabilize Somalia when the United Nations, the United States, Ethiopia and the African Union have all intervened before, with little success. They argue that the Kenyan operation appears to be uncoordinated and poorly planned, with hundreds of troops bogged down in the mud because of rains that fall at this time every year.

 

....

Kenyan military officials also publicly said the United States and France were helping them, but both countries quickly distanced themselves from the operation, insisting that they were not taking part in the combat.

 

The invasion was a serious miscalculation, and the Kenyan economy is going to suffer badly, very badly,” said David M. Anderson, a Kenya specialist at the University of Oxford.

 

....

“This isn’t about tourism,” said a senior Kenyan official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “This is about our long-term development plan. Kenya cannot achieve economically what it wants with the situation the way it is in Somalia, especially Kismayu.”

 

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/27/world/africa/kenya-planned-somalia-incursion-far-in-advance.html?pagewanted=1&ref=world

[Jacpher]

Must you bold each and every word to drive the message home to the thick skull of our Azania boys?

 

For the past several years, the American-backed

Kenyan military has been secretly arming and training clan-based militias inside Somalia to safeguard Kenya’s borders and economic interests,

especially a huge new port to be built just 60 miles south of Somalia.

 

But now many diplomats, analysts and Kenyans fear that the country, by essentially invading southern Somalia, has bitten off far more than it can chew, opening itself up to terrorist reprisals and impeding the stressed relief efforts to save the lives of hundreds of thousands of starving Somalis.

 

Despite their close relationship with Kenyan security services, which receive millions of dollars in American aid each year, American officials said they had been caught off guard by the incursion.

 

“The United States did not encourage the Kenyan government to act, nor did Kenya seek our views,” said Katya Thomas, a spokeswoman at the American Embassy in Nairobi. “We note that Kenya has a right to defend itself.”

 

Pentagon officials are now watching cautiously. “This is not something that’s coordinated with us at all, so it’s not something we have much knowledge about,” a senior Pentagon official. “We want to see how this develops.”

Pentagon officials said the immediate impact of dispersing Shabab fighters was good. But without knowing much about the overall Kenyan strategy or long-term plan, they are a bit wary.

 

“It’s difficult to discern what’s the next step,” the official said.

 

Kenyan officials say the next step is marching all the way to Kismayu, a Shabab-controlled port town that churns out tens of millions of dollars in taxes for the Shabab every year.

 

But Lazarus Sumbeiywo, a former leader of Kenya’s army, said the Kenyans were erring tactically

.

 

Somali officials, despite being enemies of the Shabab, have been furious about the Kenyan incursion, with Somalia’s president, Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed, calling it an “inappropriate and unacceptable” encroachment on Somali sovereignty

 

The dispute has left Western diplomats to mediate between the two sides, but Mr. Mutua said that “a lot has been lost in translation” and that the Kenyans and the Somalis were still close.

 

Still, aid organizations are deeply concerned that the military operations will affect efforts to reach starving people in Somalia’s famine-stricken interior. The United Nations has said that tens of thousands of Somalis have already died and that 750,000 could starve to death. The Shabab control many of the hardest-hit areas, and Shabab fighters have blocked most Western aid groups from entering.

 

“Some of the drought-affected people who arrived from other parts of the country are now facing multiple displacements in the wake of the military activities,” a United Nations report said Wednesday. “Movement of humanitarian personnel and supplies are also likely to be restricted, subsequently affecting the timely delivery of assistance to populations in need.”

[GoldCoast]

I thought it was about the poor kidnapped Western aid workers. Why isn't Azania mentioned anywhere in this piece? Oh you mean its not on the top of the agenda? lol.

[Jacaylbaro]

U gotta love Jeffry ,,,,

[Dabrow]

We have to wait and see if its true,,,,but thanks god Kenya cannot substain this invasion and is jeopardizing its own security.

[SomaliNFD]

...................“This is about our long-term development plan. Kenya cannot achieve economically what it wants with the situation the way it is in Somalia, especially Kismayu.”

 

Especially Kismayu port. Apparently many goods such as sugar, flour, clothings and car/parts etc are cheaper in NFD than the rest of kenya cities because these goods are imported into this region through Kismayu port hassle-free and easily accessible. I heard these goods were even being exported from towns like wajir, mandera and garissa and sold in the rest of Kenya at cheaper prices than usual. So it must be hurting some business people in Kenya. its also stated within some circles that the business dealings between NFDsomalis and somalia was creating very close relationships between the two communities, something kenyan officials found too unconfortable to let it grow for long. Go figure!

The kismayu port is therefore a lifeline for NFD somalis and this "war" will affect them most. NFD somalis have relied on Kismayu port for a long time because of the kenyan goverments neglegance of the region since the countrys inception, its the only region with no infrastructures like roads which left them with no options but Kismayu.

[Aaliyyah]

It is heartbreaking to hear that kenyan troops entered Somalia. But, the blame rests on our shoulders, at the end of the day as long as somalis dnt unite anyone can take advantage of their sad state.

 

with that been said, just make duá.

 

salaam

 

p.s Eid mubarak in advance Solers.

[Miskiin-Macruuf-Aqiyaar]

Especially Kismayu port. Apparently many goods such as sugar, flour, clothings and car/parts etc are cheaper in NFD than the rest of kenya cities because these goods are imported into this region through Kismayu port hassle-free and easily accessible.

This is very true. Since the price of commodities skyrocketed in the last few months -- along with spiral downward of Kenyan shilling against U. S. dollar -- in Kenya, Soomaali badan ayaa kasoo gadanaaye Gaarisa waxyaabo badan. It was cheaper in there than in Nayroobi, especially sokorta. Its price was double and more in Nayroobi.

[General Duke]

Interesting stuff. Maybe Kenya will get what it wishes for and swallows up South Somalia. Then what will happen if all those Somali's move into Nairobi and start opening more shops. The world is becoming one village after all.

[Dabrow]

Duke: stop with the nonsense.

 

Its might be true if its purely economic reasons why kenya is in somalia and not security reason

[SomaliNFD]

Here is one of the reasons why kenya went to "war" with somalia- to control and stop goods flowing from kismayu port to NFD and eventually to other kenyan cities because its hurting some politicians and businessmen.

 

Nightmare for residents as war pushes up prices

 

.......communities living along the border are having a nightmare.

They are feeling the pinch of the heightened war in which the armed forces are seeking to flush out the terrorist group.

They are having sleepless nights as the war rages.

Prices of most foodstuff and other commodities have significantly gone up.

Supplies such as sugar, rice, cooking fat and powdered milk that have been finding their way into Kenya through Kismayu, which is a free port.

They come from the Middle East as well as Asia and Europe and they are usually sold cheaply.

Even electronic goods and vehicles are normally cheaply available in border towns like Liboi in Garissa, Elwak in Mandera and Hulugho in Ijara district.

Some of these goods are eventually smuggled into towns like Garissa, Mwingi, Thika and even Eastleigh and other areas in Nairobi.

But since the border was closed, transporters can no longer risk their vehicles on the cutline roads used to ferry such goods...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

.Full story here

 

http://www.nation.co.ke/News/Nightmare+for+residents+as+war+pushes+up+prices+/-/1056/1263016/-/item/0/-/u2ijq4z/-/index.html