Kenya threatens its refugees

Africa currently has over four million refugees, most of who had run away from repression, civil war and persecution from their countries. The main culprits have been Sudan, Somalia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi and Eritrea. Religious extremism has added to authoritarianism as a driver of instability and conflict pushing people out of their […]

Africa currently has over four million refugees, most of who had run away from repression, civil war and persecution from their countries. The main culprits have been Sudan, Somalia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi and Eritrea. Religious extremism has added to authoritarianism as a driver of instability and conflict pushing people out of their homes and countries. Nigeria has recently joined the list with over 200,000 refugees spread in Niger, Cameroon and Chad. Unfortunately, we do not even have a legal framework to address the crisis posed by this huge number of refugees and the over 3.5 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) in our country. The law establishing the National Refugees Commission was made to address specifically address the registration and care of Liberian refugees into Nigeria does not even envisage that we would one day have our own refugees and IDPs to cater for.
This week, I write from Kenya where the Government announced it was closing down its two refugee camps and sending the 600,000 refugees in its Dadaab and Kakuma camps to their home countries. Maybe to prove it is serious about the issue, the government immediately disbanded its Department of Refugee Affairs, which has responsibility for the dossier. The Dadaab camp housing about 350,000 Somali refugees is the largest camp in the world and it’s not clear how they can be returned home given the situation in their home country. The Kenyan Government however insists they must go because they pose a security threat and are too costly for the country to continue to maintain. Specifically, the Government argues that they provide a base for al-Shabaab terrorists who have been engaged in mass atrocities in the country. There is however no evidence that the terrorists were from the camp.
The attack on Garisa University College, not far from the camp 13 months ago was a major turning for the Kenyan Government. Even before the attack however, the Kenyan Government had signed a tripartite agreement in 2013 with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees and Somalia for the return of the refugees. As the said return is almost impossible and neighbouring countries are unwilling to take them in, the Kenyan Government might well be using the threat as a bargaining chip to get the international community take more responsibility for the cost of maintenance of the refugees. The Government might also be responding to mounting prejudice against Somalis but the reality on the ground is that there is an indigenous Somali population in Kenya so stigmatising the community can only create more harm for the country.
Many of my civil society friends in Kenya were keen to tell me that their beloved country has now beaten Nigeria and is now the most corrupt country in Africa, at least on a per capita basis. My response was that in today’s Nigeria, President Buhari is combatting corruption so they should get their own Buhari or turn President Uhuru Kenyatta into one. Their claim was that the current government has observed an open door policy for mega looting. The corruption debate was a hot topic because a major self-styled anti-corruption crusader, Jacob Juma was killed on the road last Thursday and his assassins had pumped ten bullets into him on a highway. He was said to have made major exposes on corruption in government and was said to have been threatened by Deputy President William Ruto.
The major event of the weekend was of course the burial of 82-year old former First Lady, Mama Lucy Kibaki. She was an old style First Lady known for directly projecting her husband’s power physically. She became famous for slapping men who annoyed her at least four different times. One of them was a photojournalist from Nation Media who was photographing her after she stormed the media office at dawn to warn them to warn them to stop criticising her husband. Another journalist was slapped for calling her Lucy Wambui. She took it as an unforgettable insult because at that time, a certain Mary Wambui was rumoured to be a lady friend of President Kibaki. The war continued on Saturday when Mary Wambui who is currently a Parliamentarian was refused recognition when she attended Lucy Kibaki’s funeral. President Mwai Kibaki had once called a press conference at the State House, with Mama Lucy at his side to announce to journalists that there was no basis to the rumours that he was a polygamist. His words were: “I want to make it very clear that I have only one dear wife, Lucy, who is here, and I do not have any other.” It was therefore not surprising that Mary Wambui was not recognized at the funeral.
At the political level, the 2010 Constitutional Reform Process had had a profound effect on the Kenyan political system. The devolution process in articular has moved substantial powers and money from the centre to the county levels. Service delivery including health, primary education and local roads are now local issues so county governors and their work now matter to citizens. Next year’s elections may therefore see more interest in local elections. The presidential elections which is a winner takes all combat between two equally powerful ethno-regional alliances will however certainly remain the major stake in the elections. The present ruling Jubilee Coalition is comforted by the way their cases have been thrown out by the International Criminal Court while for the CORD opposition, the coming elections looks as their last opportunity to change the country’s political equation.