Friday, October 26, 2012
By BONIFACE ONGERI
For a visitor to Garissa Town, the cloud of uncertainty and insecurity hanging over the sun-baked town is obvious.
Being close to Somalia, the town has suffered deadly landmine, grenade and gun attacks by the Al Shabaab militants retaliating the Kenya Defence Forces onslaught on the Islamist group in Somalia.
The attacks include the July one on the Catholic and African Inland churches in the town that killed 17 people and left more than 60 injured.
Garissa can easily be tagged the unofficial stronghold of the Al Shabaab sympathisers and militants fleeing annihilation by the African Mission in Somalia.
The assaults by the Al Qaeda-allied group in the cosmopolitan town would easily scare and drive away residents and investors particularly those who hail from other parts of the country.
But this has not been the case; no one is leaving the town.
Instead more are trooping to Garissa for leisure, business and various job postings by government and non-governmental organisations.
The residents are as industrious and boisterous as if the militants do not exist. Taxis, beggars, vendors and shopkeepers hustle for business late into the night.
Hoteliers who have borne the brunt of grenade attacks say business is good.
For example, James Chege, the proprietor of Holiday Inn, has witnessed the viciousness of the militias. A grenade was hurled into the hotel and killed two customers and 26 injured in November last year.
But this, he says, has not reduced the number of his customers, in fact, they have increased .
“During the first months of grenade attacks business was bad as people feared venturing into social places such as hotels and pubs. But gradually, the attacks became a norm and people resolved to go on with life,” he said.
Chege says business has been expanding and early this year, he opened another branch of the hotel just 500m from the present one. And both hotels have a good number of customers.
“What we cannot let happen is to allow the threat of the militants to snuff life out of us,” he says, steel in his voice.
RESILIENCE
Anne Mueni is another business woman in the town; she runs an eatery.
She says the will to live is inspired from the fact that Somalia has suffered more than two decades of war but the resilience of the people carries the day.
“If we close business and flee Garissa we give the thugs victory, which they don’t deserve. Death is everywhere and we will soldier on until our time on earth is up. My life cannot be dictated by the murderers,” she told The Standard.
She said the turning point for Garissa people was the attack on the two churches in July.
“Many people would have fled Garissa and relocated their enterprises in the wake of that horrifying slaughter. But they didn’t. I was in the church and I survived but trust me, save for those who are still seeking specialised treatment no one has left Garissa,” she said.
The defiance in the face of the threats has earned residents accolades from government officials.
It is like the attacks have brought the people of Garissa closer and strengthened their resolve to work even harder.
“The aim of the attacks was to create sectarian violence, but the strategy seems not to work. If anything, residents of the different religious faiths are united against the militants,” says Garissa County Commissioner, Mohamed Maalim.
Since the attacks, police officers often patrol the town and set up impromptu checkpoints. Their presence is also felt outside churches, police stations and other high-profile installations that would be targeted by the militants.
EXCESSIVE FORCE
Although the police have occasionally been accused of harassment, using excessive force and other human rights violations, their presence gives residents the feeling of being secure; something they so crave.
In providing security, the officers’ safety is at stake as the militants target them with explosives, either in their positions or in their patrol vehicles.
It is after such attacks that the police officers indiscriminately beat up anyone they meet in homes or on the streets, says Khalif Abdi Farah, the Northern Forum for Democracy executive director.
“A war on the militants will not be won by use of force but rather by winning the hearts and minds of the residents,” says Farah.