Mixed reactions to Kenya's plan to build border security wall

People cross from Somalia into Kenya at the Mandera border control post. Kenya’s borders have hundreds of unofficial entry points that police are working to close. [Bosire Boniface/Sabahi]

By Stephen Ingati and Fabian Mangera
Wednesday, April 1, 2015

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MANDERA, Kenya -- Kenya's plan to construct a security wall that will run for 20 km in its first phase of the 80 km stretch from border point one to Bulla Hawa along the common border with Somalia has received a mixed reaction among the locals and area leaders.

Although a majority of residents have welcomed the government's plan, some see it as a plan to cut them off from the war-torn Somalia where they have a lot of attachment.

Those who supported the idea cited security concerns while those who are against blamed it on cutting social ties between residents of the two countries and affecting nomadic pastoralism which is their lifeline.

Mandera County Assembly Speaker Abdikadir Sheikh on Monday welcomed the idea, saying that the wall will assist in curbing illegal immigrants as they mostly sneak into the country through Bulla Hawa.

Sheikh, however, said the county government has not been consulted on the project, adding that it will open up a new debate in the county assembly. He advised the national government to engage area residents in the project, saying that security has not been taken seriously in the county.

The speaker warned that the wall should not only be taken as a Vision 2030 target, but address the perennial issue of terrorism in the region.

Kenyan officials say the security wall will provide a long-term security efforts to secure the border, adding that once the wall's construction is completed, it will only be crossed by entering through the appropriate border points.

The Islamist militant group Al-Shabaab has carried series of deadly attacks in northern Kenya and other towns, including the capital city of Nairobi since the East African country sent its military into Somalia in 2011 to fight against the Al-Qaida inspired group.

Kenyan authorities have also blamed the militants for being behind spates of kidnapping of expatriates working in the sprawling refugee camps in the incursion-prone northern region and tourists in the coastal archipelago towns of Mombasa and Lamu.

However, some local residents have voiced different opinions. Hassan Hussein, a local elder criticized the project, saying that people of the two nations share cultural ties that should not be disconnected.

Hussein told Xinhua that citizens from both the countries have intermarried, and the wall will affect family ties due to immigration complications since the authorities will be demanding travel documents.

Hassan Farah, another resident, said the wall will affect pastoralists' livelihoods as Kenyans cross into the hinterlands of Somalia where there are abundant pastures for their livestock. Farah called on the government to leave exit points for livestock and people crossing to either side. The Somali government has reportedly opposed the plan, saying it was not consulted in the planned erection of the wall.

"We did not get official communication from Kenya. We only read the matter through the media," Somalia's ambassador to Kenya Mohamed Ali Noor was quoted as saying last week. "While Kenya is at liberty to build anything within its borders, this matter affects both friendly countries and it should be done in consultation."

Smugglers of goods and weapons have been using the porous border to sneak contraband goods from Somalia.

Area county commissioner Alex Nkoyo, who has supported the government's position, said he will call for a meeting of local leaders on Wednesday to ventilate into the issue. Nkoyo noted that the wall will prevent criminals smuggling weapons and contraband goods into the country.

He said members of the Al-Shabaab use the porous border to cross into Mandera and the rest of the country to commit series of killings that have been witnessed for the past three years.

Nkoyo, who has survived five terror attacks on his life, said the construction was part of the government's strategy to monitor movement and contain attacks by Al-Shabaab militants from Somalia.

"The government is building the wall mainly as a security precautionary measure being put in place to ward off further encroachment on our territorial land by terrorists from Somalia. This is because Bula Hawa Town in Somalia has been used as an exit and entry point by the terrorists to get in and out of Mandera," he said.

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