Somalia’s war economy and insecurity implications in Kenya

Abstract

Kenya and Somalia have benefitted from each other‟s warm and friendly relations. To illustrate this there are a large number of Somalis who are working and living in Kenya. Many have been involved in different kinds of businesses ranging from selling clothes to opening of forex bureaus. Infact, their presence is much felt in different parts of the country especially in Eastleigh which has been known as another “little Mogadishu.”One can attribute this to their aggressive nature in business. Likewise, Kenyans are working in Somalia either as businessmen or employed by the different NGO‟s there. However there are some security challenges to the extent that it has been difficult for the Kenya embassy in Somalia to open an office in Mogadishu. These challenges anchor mainly on include terrorism, piracy, kidnappings, money laundering and Islamic radicalization of youth in Kenya. The Kenya Defence Forces were deployed to Somalia following kidnappings of tourists along the Kenyan coast; they are working together with forces from other African countries. The statement of the problem in this study was the abundance of resources such as fishing, charcoal and banana that Somalia has, but which it has not fully exploited because criminals have used these resources in the black economy to perpetuate their activities leading to a war economy in Somalia. The objectives of this research study comprised of examining the nature and effect of security threats inherent in Somalia‟s war economy, to establish factors underpinning the insecurities in Kenya rooted in the Somalia‟s war economy and to assess the implications of Somalia war economy on Kenya‟s security. This research was guided by the human needs theory as articulated by Jerel A. Rosati, David J. Caroll and Roger A. Coate. Their main argument is that when man is deprived of basic necessities of life, it causes them to release their anger at anybody and everybody. The study used both qualitative and quantitative methods of collecting data. This study used explanatory or descriptive research which identified four study units namely-: NGO/civil society, government officials, security/military agencies and the business community. These groups of people were chosen because they are affected in one or another by Somalia‟s war economy; it was also interesting to hear the different perceptions/views they made out of Somali‟s war economy and its insecurity implications in Kenya thus making this study rich and diverse. These groups of people provided 50 respondents. Data was analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) thereafter conclusions and recommendations were derived from it.