AMBASSADOR'S TRIP TO GARISSA ELICITS CANDID

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 NAIROBI 002790 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PGOV PTER KISL KDEM SOCI PHUM KE SO ET SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR'S TRIP TO GARISSA ELICITS CANDID FEEDBACK FROM KENYAN SOMALI COMMUNITY REF: NAIROBI 2655 -------------- Summary -------------- ¶1. The Ambassador recently travelled to Garissa, the provincial center of Kenya's predominantly Muslim North Eastern Province, to talk to the community about a range of issues. Feedback from the (mostly) Kenyan Somali community was generally positive toward the United States. There was great appreciation for the support the United States is providing to the area. Feedback was also candid: women, youth, religious, and other community leaders expressed concern over the deterioriating security situation in Somalia and what they termed problematic U.S. support for Ethiopia and alleged opposition to Islamic forms of government and Islamic groups with grassroots support. Development and governance issues also loomed large on Garissa residents' radar screen: interlocutors felt squeezed by the influx of Somali refugees and neglected by their own government in terms of development fund distribution and the lack of attention by their own elected representatives. Youth expressed frustration at a lack of employment prospects and political marginalization. End Summary. ¶2. On November 19, after a visit to Dadaab refugee camp (reftel),the Ambassador traveled south to Garissa, the provincial center of Kenya's predominantly Muslim North Eastern Province, to meet with women, youth, religious, and other community leaders. -------------- Somalia's Instability A Key Concern -------------- ¶3. Security was the primary concern for many. Representatives from nearly every group mentioned the deteriorating security situation in Somalia and worried about the detrimental effect it is having on northeastern Kenya. Given the reality of a porous and poorly controlled border, interlocutors emphasized that there will not be security in Kenya until there is peace in Somalia, and that the increased influx of Somali refugees is a serious strain on local resources. Participants did not support the Kenyan government policy that officially (but ineffectively) closed the Kenya/Somali border in January 2007, but rather argued that support for both refugees and host communities must be improved. ¶4. Interlocutors expressed the belief that the presence of Ethiopian troops in Somalia acts as a hindrance to peacemaking efforts and that a comprehensive peace accord will be difficult if not impossible to achieve while they are present. Ethiopians are viewed through the lens of historic grievances and are seen as having their own agenda that runs contrary to Somali national interests. Women leaders criticized the peace process for not including women and youth. (Note: Their criticism was voiced before the November 26 unity government agreement to allot 75 seats in the transitional Somali parliament to civil society and business representatives. End Note.) ¶5. Religious leaders cautioned that Western countries would have to re-evaluate their "hostility" to moderate Islamic regimes if they wanted to encourage an effective peace process in Somalia. The leaders credited the Islamic Courts Union with creating a semblance of order in Somalia and said their overthrow (that started in late 2006) had been a mistake. The imposition of Sharia law will not necessarily lead to an intolerant regime, they said, and radicalism will only increase if non-credible leaders continue to run the government in Mogadishu. While interlocutors appreciated the Ambassador's remarks regarding engagement with the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia, several interlocutors expressed the belief that al Shabaab should be dealt with directly, as they are now in a position of power and enjoy the support of the local population. The Ambassador disagreed that al Shabaab enjoyed any real grassroots support and cited the recent killings of aid workers as an example of al Shabaab's rule by terror rather than consent. He also emphasized that the current policy of non-engagement with extremist elements is not up for discussion. ¶6. Over the years, Garissa has all but lost its NAIROBI 00002790 002 OF 003 traditionalist, moderate Islamic voice to an increasing number of Wahhabi clerics, as well as clerics from Somalia and Ethiopia with nationalist agendas. While this trend has not created a hotbed of extremism in Garissa, it has created an environment amenable to inflammatory sermons, anti-U.S. rhetoric, and the promotion of foreign agendas, including potential recruitment by extremist groups like al Shabaab. Local residents who are willing to talk privately about the shift say that the new clerics have filled a vacuum left by weak governance and the Kenyan government's inability to deliver basic services and development. -------------- Development Help Insufficient -------------- ¶7. Although Garissa's population is primarily ethnic Somali and the region has always lagged behind other parts of Kenya in terms of development, interlocutors said that they self-identify as Kenyans first. One religious leader emphasized that the safety and security of Kenya is the community's number one priority. Women leaders discussed the rift between "Somali" Somalis and Kenyan Somalis: Somalis see themselves as superior and act as if they deserve our resources, one woman leader said. ¶8. The bigger problem, other leaders said, was that development resources coming to the North Eastern Province are insufficient, poorly distributed, not in line with local development priorities, and at times impossible to use because of the poor security situation. Refugee influxes from Somalia just make the situation worse: the refugees' need for resources is eating away at grazing land, depleting the underground water table, and creating serious sanitation problems in Garissa, they said. ¶9. Interlocutors expressed their appreciation for the projects sponsored by Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA) civil affairs teams. Women leaders asked that the United States provide even more direct assistance like that provided by the civil affairs teams, since the local community cannot trust the government to use aid money appropriately. -------------- Youth Lack Jobs, Voice -------------- ¶10. An assembly of youth group leaders expressed frustration at high levels of youth unemployment and inadequate political representation. Youth leaders wondered aloud why NGOs insist on bringing in outside employees when qualified youth are available in Garissa, and why local residents can have a private meeting with the U.S. Ambassador but not be able to call on their own member of parliament. Youth representatives also explained that many youth hold negative opinions about the United States because they perceive U.S. policies to be anti-Muslim. However, the U.S. image has improved, they said. Five years ago, you could not mention the name of the United States in Garissa, but because of military civic action and other projects, the negative perception of the United States is changing positively day by day. (Note: During the Ambassador's trip, he attended the dedication ceremony of a kindergarten in Dadaab town recently refurbished by CJTF-HOA Civil Affairs teams; the project was intended to support a host community overwhelmed with the influx of refugees. End Note.) ¶11. However, the United States still has image problems. One youth leader pointed out that when the United States forced a cutoff in the funding of Islamic nongovernmental organizations such as al Haramayn, no funding was available to continue the work underway. The seemingly inexplicable funding cutoff fuels resentment. Other U.S.-supported restrictions also limit donors' ability to fund religious education, he said. In the end, such U.S. policies feed local perceptions of the United States, not the provision of a desk in a school (by a military civil affairs team), another concluded. -------------- Comment -------------- ¶12. The Ambassador successfully corrected a number of NAIROBI 00002790 003 OF 003 misconceptions about U.S. policy in Somalia while explaining the limits of U.S. development assistance. He encouraged youth to develop a strategy for youth development and to hold their political representatives accountable for delivering results. He repeated these messages during two radio interviews later in the evening, during which he took dozens of call-ins. He challenged local members of parliament to join him in a baraza (public meeting) with their constituents. We learned later that this plea reached the ears of at least one local member of parliament almost immediately, but none have yet accepted the challenge. ¶13. The frustrations expressed by the youth highlight the risk to Garissa's stability in the face of rising refugee numbers and an increase in isolationist religious rhetoric. We are currently working with FY 2007 1207 funding to help productively harness the power and energy of Garissa's youth and make them less vulnerable to co-optation by militant organizations. End Comment. RANNEBERGER