Kenya’s recently enacted anti-terror laws seem to have divided the country down the middle as a result of the careless and hurried manner in which they were mooted, debated and passed. The government of the day divisively and carelessly pushed a dichotomous thinking of “you either support the Security Laws or you are a terrorist sympathizer.” A ‘black and white worldview’ is often a reflection of underlying intolerance, and intellectual laziness that occasion a leap forward to flawed conclusions. This kind of approach to public affairs of legislating, decision-making and policy making kills debate and the end result is not-thoroughly-thought-through products that are then forced on people.

Laws should be products of good reasoning and should be based on sound consistent logic, as opposed to emotions or political pressure. The hurried enactment of draconian security laws reflect lack of respect for reason; intellectual arrogance; and lack of respect for analytical thinking. 

In this article, I would like to confine my discussion to considering the motivation of terrorism and how a government’s reactionary activities may be playing into fulfilling terrorists’ mission. 
 
To start with, we have not as a nation had or heard intelligent conversations on the problem of terrorism and terrorists.  It follows then that as a nation, we do not have a basic understanding of the motivation and goals of terrorists and their activities. Our lack of understanding has led us into fighting terrorism and terrorists in a manner that breeds homegrown terrorists; emboldens terrorists; divides the society; makes political opponents terrorists sympathizers; inadvertently makes enemies of allies; as well as in a manner that aids terrorists’ mission and goals.

While terrorism is a continuously a changing phenomenon, by and large, terrorists commit acts of violence so as to: spread fear; harass, weaken, or embarrass government security forces so that the government overreacts and appears repressive on its people; change people’s ways and values, and impose new ones; influence government decisions, legislation, or other critical decisions; obtain recognition by distracting nations from the development agenda; and exact vengeance.
From these objectives, it is possible to analytically deduce the mission and goals of terrorists. It is important for us to understand this because a bad diagnosis leads to a bad prescription.

While terrorist activities may be carried out for objectives beyond those I have mentioned, in my opinion, the above is largely representative of the goals of violence that has been visited on us in the name of terrorism.
Our lack of critical analysis and understanding of the motivation and goals of terrorism and terrorists’ activities has led our government to come up with the knee jerk, and ill-thought-through solution of laws that to my understanding aid terrorism and help terrorists to meet their mission, goals and objectives.

Let me explain this context.

In essence, terrorism and terrorists’ goal is to deny people their rights and freedoms through terrorist activities. The government cannot also in their effort to fight terrorism take away our rights and freedoms. When the government does that, it helps terrorists achieve their goal and becomes a terrorist organization. It is for this reason that the United States (knowingly or unknowingly) commits actions that makes it accused of being terrorist too.

The advent of the Constitution of Kenya (2010) ushered Kenya into the family of free society. We are a free society founded on principles and values of rights and freedom. We are a democracy. We are a people that pride in our freedom to live and pursue our own goals in the manner we see fit so long as we do not forcibly interfere with the equal rights of others to do the same.

Towards the end of ensuring a free society, the government has the limited role of securing our rights and freedoms. Consequently, those who take the oath of public office must always be alive to the fact that their oath to God and nation has one supreme mission of striving to keep us a free society. The current Security Laws make Kenya an unfree society which is actually the dream state for terrorists.

The argument for taking away our rights and freedoms in an unnegotiated manner in the name of keeping us safe and secure is hogwash. Rights and Freedoms on one hand, and Safety and Security on the other hand, are not mutually exclusive. They can exist side by side.  We don’t have to choose one set.

We now know that terrorists kill to instill fear.Terrorists use violence to disrupt free society and deny people freedoms and rights. Why should government (re)actions take our rights and freedoms and in effect accomplish the mission and goal of terrorists? This questioning cannot and should not be a qualification for being the so called terrorist sympathizer.

The so called terrorist sympathizers are patriotic Kenyans who do not want their ways of life altered by terrorists or by government. They do not want to lose their cherished democratic values in the hands of terrorists or in the hands of government. It is possible for Kenyans to have their rights and freedom even as they enjoy safety and security from government.

By George Nyongesa

The author [email protected] is a rights activist based in Busia County.