Kenya is seeking international help to stop informal finances to the Al-Shabaab terror group that remains active despite military operations.
Kenya’s High Commissioner to the UK Manoah Esipisu (pictured) said regional and international partners must come together with the federal and regional governments of Somalia to design and implement a framework for combatting Al-Shabaab’s financing using strong Joint Investigation Teams linked to effective prosecution and incarceration in Somalia.
These teams, he argued, must also take aim at its illicit taxation and protection rackets of thousands of businesses and many of the humanitarian organisations in Somalia.
A big part of this requires that civilians and international humanitarian operations be much better protected by Somali regional and federal forces, he argued.
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He said it is also important that all countries exposed to this threat to domesticate and be in compliance with the binding counter-terrorism measures in UN Security Council resolutions such as 2178 on Foreign Fighters and others on combatting the financing and any form of support to terrorist groups.
“Rather than focus so exclusively on countering terrorism financing measures in the formal banking and money transfer systems, we will need to fully deal with cash-based financing in areas that terrorists operate,” he said.
He made the remarks at the Court of St James’s at the Institute for Strategic Studies, London, UK.
He argued the military success of Al-Shabaab is far from assured as national and regional militaries, backed by AMISOM and global partners such as the United States among others, have dealt it repeated defeats on the battlefield.
“Its political and ideological assault, however, reaches wider than its military capability. If it aligns with other political and ideological interests, particularly the expansionist or irredentist kinds, we will find ourselves dealing with a longer-term crisis that includes economic failure in Somalia and in areas exposed to the group’s operatives.”
It would also frustrate Somalia’s still vulnerable state-building project, and probably allow global terrorism to retain a recruitment and training platform in that country.
Esipisu said there is a need to minimise or eliminate the threat of groups such as Al-Shabaab whose existence is a direct threat to such a positive outcome if East Africa is going to be the long-term hub for rising levels of investment, economic production and profits.
He called on countries to stop the Al-Shabaab terror group from holding any territorial ground.
This will allow it to exploit learning, correctional, religious, business and charitable institutions to fund its continuing existence and terrorist operations.
Esipisu said the terror group’s holding of ground legitimises its narrative of victory over states and the international community, feeding into its recruitment drive and therefore the production of more bombers and shooters.
“This means the military means must be maintained and escalated. This is necessary but insufficient,” he said.
Esipisu argued while humanitarian actors like DFID or USAID have relatively strong accountability systems, we will need the entire sector to be more transparent and supported in minimising taxation by terrorist groups.
“To not do this, and to invite the terrorist groups to make headline-grabbing attacks, will eventually lead to the humanitarian sector being publicly accused of being a source of terrorism.”
He said humanitarianism will suffer as a result because at the end of the day it depends on political support which is deeply subject to public opinion.
He called on investment in preventive measures that include secure disengagement and reintegration programmes for former operatives that want another chance, detecting and attacking sources of radicalisation, and more effective investigations and prosecutions of recruiters.
“It is as urgent as ever to do more to close off religious spaces to militant extremists and their ideology. Countries that sponsor various forms of extremist interpretations of religion or identity, beyond their borders, will need to be reined in,” he added.
Esipisu said countries need to build their abilities to safely deal with foreign terrorist fighters returning to their countries of origin after they have engaged in hostilities.
Regionally, he said there is a need to harden the regulation of private-sector security standards and capabilities against terrorist organisations.
He said Al-Shabaab remains the foremost terrorist threat to the region ISIS affiliates and splinter groups operating in DR Congo, Mozambique, Nigeria and Somalia.
“The aim of Al-Shabaab is simply to take over the governance, and if possible the regional and national governments, of Somalia. Its project is irredentist: no country that borders Somalia can expect its boundaries to remain as they are if Al-Shabaab achieves its aims.”
Kenya has been pushing for a proposal to declare Al-Shabaab a terrorist group and join the league of ISIS, Taliban and Al-qaeda.
The push was vetoed by the US after pressure from humanitarian agencies.
