Terrorist attacks involving shootings and explosions killed 122 people in Kenya last year, the US State Department said Friday as it issued a new travel warning.
“The bulk of these incidents occurred in Wajir, Garissa, Lamu and Mandera counties,” the US noted.
It added that terrorism remains a threat in the Nairobi area and the Coast.
The State Department specifically urged US citizens to avoid traveling near Kenya’s border with Somalia, including all of Lamu County, which in the past has been a major tourist destination.
Other listed no-go zones are Tana River County; the three northeastern counties of Mandera, Wajir and Garissa; all areas north of Malindi in Kilifi County and Nairobi’s Eastleigh neighbourhood.
“In Mombasa,” the warning continued, “the US Embassy recommends US citizens visit Old Town only during daylight hours, and avoid using the Likoni ferry due to safety concerns”.
The posted State Department notice cites two recent attacks.
On September 11, three women reportedly attacked a Mombasa police station with knives and petrol bombs, wounding two police officers, the travel warning said.
On October 27, it added, an assailant stabbed a police officer guarding the US Embassy compound.
“Violent and sometimes fatal crimes, including armed carjackings, muggings, home invasions and burglaries, and kidnappings can occur at any time,” the State Department warned.
“US citizens and US Embassy employees have been victims of such crimes in the past.”
-nation.co.ke
I feel for Kenya with all these ‘warnings’ because this goes right into the hands of the terrorists to disrupt Kenya’s tourism industry. What if there were warnings not to visit California in the United States because of what happened in San Bernardino, or not to visit Paris because what happened with Charlie Hebdo murders, or not to visit New York because of 911. Well, you see it doesn’t work the other way around. I suggest instead that if Kenya would accept help with securing its borders through high-tech monitoring systems such as unarmed drone patrols along the border and perhaps cracking down on illegal weapon imports (which everyone has known have been available in several areas of Nairobi for a long time–any Kenyan can tell you where weapons are usually sold on the underground market), perhaps these warnings would end. Regular Kenyan citizens who are not jihadists do not buy illegal weapons–just find out who does and get them in the act. Since Kenya can’t beat the State Dept. warnings, perhaps it’s time to get their technology and the technology that Kenya is itself developing to clear the way for better ratings.
Of course drones should only under control of the govt., and this is not advocating armed drones of any kind. Guarantee of monitored borders might have been helpful in preventing the Garissa attack and other attacks along border areas near Somalia, since that attack involved border crossings. Kenya has to get out from under these ‘warnings’ though because it is a beautiful country and deserves better than this in terms of being able to attract visitors and tourists to visit and also for the money that tourism brings into the country and the best hotels, food, and service in the world as far as some of us are concerned. Of course everywhere in the world caution must be exercised and that is the point–Kenya is among many where caution must be exercised, including France, Belgium, Germany, U.S.A., and almost everywhere tourists go. But There are ways to circumvent and most of these countries would not hesitate to do so for the sake of safety. As a matter of fact, Kenya basically went to war with Somalia because of kidnappings and attacks on tourists and humanitarian workers within Kenya’s borders by Somali terror organizations. So, Kenya has done it’s part in many ways to protect tourists. Now it would be good for the U.S. to support efforts to secure the borders that are hard to secure. High-tech means could help.
The warnings have nothing to do with technology and monitoring of the border etc. The warnings are a standard responsibility the department of state takes to warn its citizens in order to ensure that if someone travels to a region and they are attacked the state department will not be blamed. So number one is covering someones behind at the State Department.
Two, there are these stereotypes about so-called third world countries where even by the third world countries own admission, they are inferior, insecure, poverty-stricken, no medicine (and all the politicians and the rich run to the West for BETTER healthcare) yada yada yada…Then on the other hand everything West is better, more sophisticated, more secure, technologically advanced, etc even when in reality that is not the case.
If yo look at the above post you notice the inferiority complex in the writer’s tone. Listen: Kenya needs to have its own game-plan; not just to enhance security (and a lot has already improved) but also to project a superior independent, “grown-up” image of a country that is not beholden to the West and begging for tourism hand-outs from the West. Promote local tourism and rely on industries that are not vulnerable to malicious travel warnings. If you followed the “tourists” back to their homes, after they come to Kenya and you lie like a rag for them to walk on, you would learn to respect yourself and trust in God instead of mzungu after realizing that they hustle worse than you do, in order to gather the money they come to convert into thousands of shillings and make you think all mzungu are wealthy.
Stop the inferiority complex, believe in God and work hard to shape your country’s destiny. Develop your own drones and everything else. Kenyans, nikiwa mmoja wao, by the grace of God are smart like many other nationalities. It is this inferior copy-cat mentality is what kills innovation. The West still cannot comprehend M-Pesa innovation for instance. Kenya should harness its talent and work to develop its own systems. Look instead what is happening. Looting, looting, looting, and more looting MORE SO AT COUNTY LEVELS THAN AT NYS, MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND OTHER NATIONAL LEVELS. That is way more harmful to the economy and future of the nation than all the travel advisories combined. In fact millions of tourism money are stolen daily at the gates of national parks like Maasai Mara and others also.
There is moral decadence in society and that had led to corruption, which in fact is implicated even in the issue Somali terrorists being able to infiltrate Kenya. The urgent problem is the one of corruption and a senseless greed for money regardless of where it is coming from. Cry not travel advisories but cry loud for a country so corrupt that wheelbarrows cost 100,000 KSH
Correction of statement in previous post:
Actually the statement that Kenya went to war with Somalia was not correctly worded. Kenya did not go to war with the state of Somalia, but went across Somalia’s borders (with presumed permission of the sitting Somalia government that was taking refuge in Nairobi since Somalia at that time was a ‘failed state’) to attack Somali terrorists (al-Shabaab) within Somalia (also presumably so that the sitting government could also return to Somalia (Mogadishu), which Somalia’s government eventually did.