Kenya creates new state to act as military, political buffer

[Jacpher]

Azania is an attempt by the Nairobi government to bring order and security to northeastern border with Somalia, which is overrun by militias

With little fanfare and even less international attention, a new state of 1.3 million people called Azania was ushered into existence on Sunday.

 

And Azania has an interim president, Prof. Mohamed Gandhi Mohamed, who was sworn in at the end of seven days of deliberations held in the Kenyan capital Nairobi.

 

The venue for the discussions and the proclamation was no accident. Azania is very much a creation of the Nairobi government and an attempt to bring order and security to Kenya's troublesome northeastern border with Somalia, where there has been no functioning administration since 1991.

 

Azania is to be made up of three Somali regions bordering Kenya: Lower and Middle Juba and Gedo. The capital of what some are calling Jubaland is expected to be the port city of Kismayo.

The Nairobi government of President Mwai Kibaki wants President Gandhi to create a buffer state to protect Kenya from the marauding fighters of the radical Islamic group al-Shabaab.

After his swearing in on Sunday, Gandhi said his first duty is to retake Azania from the al-Shabaab militias, which now control most of southern Somalia and travel back and forth across the border with Kenya at will.

 

The Kibaki government has already made preparations to give Gandhi, a former Somalia defence minister, the tools to do that job.

 

One of the WikiLeaks documents is a message dated Feb. 17, 2010, from the United States embassy in Nairobi to Washington, which says that the previous month the Kenyan government had received a shipment of arms and ammunition from the Chinese government "in support of the Government of Kenya's Jubaland initiative."

 

There's no doubt that the chaos in Somalia since the last president, Siad Barre, was ousted by warlords 20 years ago has been a real headache for Kenya. Just two weeks ago, al-Shabaab fighters attacked two border towns, Dobley and Liboi. There was intense fighting with Kenyan security forces, and some reports say 200 people were killed and hundreds more wounded.

 

A continuing problem for Kenya is the Dadaab refugee camp inside Kenya, about 100 kilometres from the Somali border. The camp is holding 332,000 Somali refugees, according to the United Nations -three times the number for which it was designed when it was opened in 1991.

The camp, according to various reports, has become a rear base, rest and recreation resort and recruiting centre for al-Shabaab. Nairobi wants Dadaab closed, the refugees sent home to Somalia. The creation of Azania is a key part of that strategy.

 

Kenya was a strong supporter of the United Nations and African Union-backed Somali Transitional National Government (TNG), created in 2004.

 

But despite the assistance of several thousand African Union troops, the TNG still controls only a few blocks of the capital, Mogadishu. There are almost daily battles and skirmishes with al-Shabaab, which controls the rest of the capital and much of the rest of southern Somalia.

Kenya's promotion of the creation of Azania is tacit admission that the Nairobi government has little confidence the TNG is going to get its act together and establish a functioning administration in Somalia any time soon.

 

And Azania is modelled on the two regions of Somalia where there are governments that are working reasonably well.

 

Soon after President Barre's ouster in 1991, northern Somalia declared itself separate.

It has been operating reasonably successfully as Somaliland since then, though it is not internationally recognized as an independent country.

 

Puntland, the northeastern region of Somalia, in 1998 also declared itself an autonomous region, but made it clear that, unlike Somaliland, it envisages an eventual reunification with Somalia.

Puntland was one of the main centres for piracy against shipping in the Gulf of Aden. But in the last couple of years the Puntland government, has worked hard to suppress piracy and most of the pirates in the region now operate from coastal towns further south in the region under the influence of al-Shabaab.

 

While the attraction to Kenya of trying to create something similar in Azania is clear, not everyone believes it can happen.

 

The governments of Ethiopia and Djibouti in particular fear Azania will just be a spark for more of the clan warfare that has kept Somalia in chaos for 20 years.

[Xaaji Xunjuf]

So this gandi guy is a kenyan puppet interesting

[Jacpher]

The creation of Jubaland/Azania was driven by the need to fight the Al Qaeda-linked militant group, Al Shabab, but it's unclear whether the new region will be able to do that effectively.

 

The country called Somalia contains a host of would-be governments, including the Transitional Federal Government (which claims jurisdiction over Somalia as a whole) and the two semi-autonomous regions of Somaliland and Puntland. Now Somalia has a third major semi-autonomous region: Jubaland, or Azania, whose creation was celebrated yesterday (see here for a map of Jubaland, and here for another, somewhat different political map of all Somalia).

 

Jubaland/Azania now has a president, former Somalia Defence Minister Professor Mohamed Abdi Gandhi, who has said a main goal of his administration will be to defeat al Shabab, Somalia’s Islamic rebel movement. This, Kenya’s Daily Nation reports, is one of the driving goals of the new region’s creation, but Somalia’s neighbors disagree on whether this tactic is a wise one:

"The idea to create an autonomous region near the Kenyan border is hinged on the reason that it will prevent the movement of al Shabaab extremists within the region.

As the conference ended on Sunday, it was not clear whether the Kenyan Government supported the election but recent WikiLeaks revelations showed that the country supported the creation of an autonomous region near its border with Somalia to prevent the flow of illegal arms.

The meeting had been opposed by both Ethiopia and Djibouti, who argue that creating autonomies in the war-torn country could inspire further insurgency by other regions or degrade the gains made by the TFG."

The Jubaland initiative has a long history. A Wikileaks cable (see item 6) shows Kenyan support for the idea in early 2010 (via @slowfalling), and “Kenya has been pouring money [and] supplies into the Jubaland area for some time to fight [al] Shabaab.” But momentum toward the creation of an official state picked up with a seven-day conference last week that culminated in the formalization of Jubaland/Azania. Now it remains to see how Jubaland will negotiate its relationships with the TFG, with Kenya, and with the rest of Africa.

Commenter James Gundun, responding to an earlier piece, leaves us with some questions and issues to think about:

Jubaland has been in the works for years – forming a presidential cabinet electing a parliament is expected – although it’s difficult to say what comes next. While TFG officials attended the week-long conference before appointing Mohamed Abdi Gandhi, how much overlap are they willing to cede to Kenya? This arrangement can squeeze al-Shabab through local governance and attempt to remedy the refugee crisis, but friction may easily develop between Nairobi and the TFG. Ethiopia also opposes the formal recognition of Jubaland, citing fears of increased insurgency, as it monitors the newly-created Shabelle Valley administration and aspiring Somali Central State. Positive interplay between the TFG, Kenya, and Ethiopia is vital to stabilizing Somalia.

[Jacpher]

Xaaji Xunjuf;709515 wrote:

So this gandi guy is a kenyan puppet interesting

Somalis has been fighting Ethiopia-Eriteria proxy war the past few years. Ghandi and his Azania creation is Kenya's entry into the dirty proxy wars taking place in Southern Somalia.

[The Zack]

So Jachpharow, let's talk about this in details,. Whether you say "it's been created by Kenya" or "it's helping Kenya", you are clearly against the creation of Azania. Let's go head to head on this discussion, shall we? Could you kindly tell the readers the motives of your disapproval? Are you saying that these regions or heck even clans have no right to get together to take care of their state? Are you saying it is a wrong move as it would create new chaos in Somalia? if so, how so? Honestly I am quite lost on why u took the stance u did take. Obviously, you support Puntland and admire it, I don't see the difference here. More importantly, the troops of Azania are fighting against (actually already kicked them out of one majory town, Dhoobley) the shabaab that you so much hate and would love to see them leave the Somali Peninsula. What is upsetting the good Jacphar, fill us in ninyahow. My take is hate your Puntland, if you are going to hate Azania because it is made by clans. Disapprove Puntland FIRST, if you are going to disapprove Azania because it has relations with a foreign country. This applies to all those who have posted multiple posts in SOL to tell us they are against the good Azania.

 

The new TFG supporters ( The H fellas who think they own the country just because their uncle is currently the president LOL) also should be the last people to condemn the state for holding its conference in Kenya and for having the blessings of Kenya, the UN, AMISOM and every other qashin out there. That is how the TFG has been created, dammit! Plus, the constitution also known as AXDI QARAMEEDKA KMG ah states "Three states (GOBOLO) have the right to have a MAAMUL GOBOLEED" so from legal standpoints, I am not sure what the fuss is about.

[Jacpher]

Let's not personalize the subject. You can't be serious with this foreign oriented agenda of Ghandi and that of PL/SL. At least those entity formations followed the real xeer Somali of sitting in dirin under qurac.

 

My problem with Azania is that it failed before it started. It could not recognize the monumental task ahead of it and the real obstacles including the rich history of conflict and warfare the region is involved in. Every time I read anything about this one, these words pop out of the screen, 'buffer zone for Kenya', 'Kenya's national security interest' 'help Kenya stop and defeat AS'. Your newly discovered Imam even admitted his priority number one is to do Kenya's dirty proxy war, get rid of AS. Understand this is not about the region or the locals anymore. It's Kenya getting its priority ahead of your own.

 

No matter how much we demonize AS, they brought peace and stability in the region. No clan murdering, no isbaaro, no clan dhac, boob iyo bililiqo, no abusive warlord authority. As the locals would tell you, AS brought the best of peace to the region. However, they sometimes act as little God and abuse the religion and order the masses around. And yes they brought other few things, like is-qarxis and ciyaal xadid. But if they were to correct these, I am sure the masses would line up right behind them. People mostly care about nabad iyo nolol and yes AS brought that to this region. No more clan militia roaming around the streets robbing business like maxaa kaa galay. I am not sure if Ghandi realizes the problems of Jubooyinka fully well. The port city is the most hot button of this region. It's by far the most fought over city in the country after Moqdisho. Ghandi needs to study it before he sends an army to capture it for few hours/days and back to square one.

 

No Jubooyinka don't need to sacrifice their own kids for the protection of Kenya's borders. And no you don't need a new admin to bring the fight to AS. That's TFG's responsibility, not a former minister or worst neighboring country. Let the TFG do its work.

[Somalina]

Nuff said!

[The Zack]

So you seriously believe that Kenya has created Azania? You want to keep in mind that its sometimes important for us to take the news with little salt, sxb. One needs to get in touch with locals of the region in question and really find out how this state's creation has started. This hasn't been created in one day, week, month, or even year. Proper research on the grass roots has been done. The majority are on board and the minority will get their rights. Is Kenya giving hand to this state? Hell yea? For its own interest? Of course! But the interest that Azania has is much more! It's own people and towns are at stake for god's sake! Even though I do respect your stance, I am not going to buy the part you said that alshabaab is the best option for this region, I have no doubt that all clans on that region can live peacefully side by side if they find a fair and reasonable admin.

 

I say this is the right time that all states find their rights internally, you should support Azania as you support puntland, you wouldn't want shabaab to rule that side of Somalia, the same stance should apply on this side of the country. Puntland fulfills Ethiopia's interest even if that takes them to hand over fellow citizens. Kenya is not worse than Ethiopia. So while we appreciate your brotherly advice, it is expected that one gives his sincere advice to his own before trying to share the wisdom with others. I think that is very statement.

 

You said let the weak TFG free Azania? Maybe that was some kind of a joke lol. Dude the TFG is celebrating a whole month for freeing 2 more blocks.with the help AMISOM. They can do nothing for Azania.

 

EDIT: ANDROID auto correction got me couple of times so I had to edit what I wrote.

[Kamaavi]

If there is anything that was created by Kenyan ( and Ethiopia) for their sole interest it's the current transitional government that has few months left to expire. It just takes few minutes to find out how it was created and who was who when was hand picked up. Point is if you have no problem with the process or the constitution that founded the Somali transitional government then you shouldn't be stressing your self on the foundation of Azania state of Somalia.

 

As for the proxy wars, Somalia is already under both global and regional wars since ever Adeero Yusuf brought the Ethiopian tanks to Moqasisho and it can't get worse than it has been for the last decades.

 

Let the Azanian people decide their fate wisely and build a strong foundation.

[The Zack]

^Very well said!