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Obama in Kenya: Africa is on the move

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US president says Africa is “one of fastest growing regions in world” as he co-hosts entrepreneurship summit in Nairobi.

Obama attends a private dinner in Nairobi with his Kenyan family members including his step-grandmother Sarah and half-sister Auma [Reuters]

Obama attends a private dinner in Nairobi with his Kenyan family members including his step-grandmother Sarah and half-sister Auma [Reuters]

by Al Jazeera

US President Barack Obama has praised Africa for its economic advancements, calling it “one of the fastest growing regions in the world”, while co-hosting a summit on global entrepreneurship with his Kenyan counterpart, Uhuru Kenyatta, in Nairobi.

Obama declared on Saturday that “Africa is on the move”, in his first official engagement since arriving in the Kenyan capital a day earlier.

“People are being lifted out of poverty, incomes are up, the middle class is growing and young people like you are harnessing technology to change the way Africa is doing business,” he told the summit.

Sharing the stage with Obama, Kenyatta also voiced optimism towards a brighter future for the continent.

“The narrative of African despair is false, and indeed was never true,” Kenyatta said. “Let them know that Africa is open and ready for business.”

The summit is aimed at promoting businesses that promise to lift many more Africans out of poverty and help insulate societies against radicalisation.

As Obama arrived in Kenya, the birthplace of his father, throngs of Kenyans lined the route of his convoy, cheering, whistling and waving as the motorcade passed by and a helicopter circled overhead.

Al Jazeera’s Andrew Simmons, reporting from Nairobi, said there was “overwhelming euphoria” when Obama arrived, adding that the US president is the “most popular” politician in Kenya.

The visit is Obama’s first as president, and is also the first time a sitting US president will visit Ethiopia and the African Union’s headquarters in Addis Ababa.

The first African-American president of the US is expected to address regional security issues and trade, and also touch on matters relating to democracy, poverty, and human rights in the region.

A previous planned trip to Kenya was delayed by Kenyatta’s indictment for war crimes by the International Criminal Court.

Those charges were suspended last year – in part, prosecutors say, because the Kenyan government thwarted the investigation.

Obama’s trip has also come under fire by rights groups, and more than 50 African and global human rights organisations have called on him to publicly meet democracy activists on the ground.

They voiced concerns about “grave and worsening” rights challenges in both Kenya and Ethiopia.

The charges against Kenyatta, and the fact that Ethiopia’s government won 100 percent of parliamentary seats in a recent disputed election, has raised questions about whether Obama should have made the trip at all.

In Addis Ababa, Obama is expected to address leaders of the African Union.

He spent Friday evening reuniting with about three dozens of Kenyan family members.

Obama has said he had “never truly known” his father, who was born in Kenya’s far west, in Kogelo village near the shores of Lake Victoria.

An economist, he walked out when Obama was just two and died in a car crash in Nairobi in 1982, aged 46.

Obama has previously made personal visits to Kogelo, the home of many of his Kenyan relatives, most recently in 2006.

Kenya strikes al-Shabab in Somalia after Garissa attack

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Military targets al-Shabab bases in Somalia following attack on Garissa university that killed 148 people.

Kenya's president vowed to retaliate for the 'mindless slaughter' at Garissa in the 'severest way' [Reuters]

Kenya’s president vowed to retaliate for the ‘mindless slaughter’ at Garissa in the ‘severest way’ [Reuters]

by Al Jazeera

Kenya’s military has launched air strikes against al-Shabab bases in Somalia following an attack on a Kenyan university that killed 148 people.

Colonel David Obonyo, a military spokesman, said on Monday that warplanes had attacked positions of the al-Shabab group on Sunday afternoon and early Monday morning.

Al-Shabab, which is based in Somalia, claimed responsibility for Thursday’s attack on the Garissa University College campus in northeastern Kenya.

After besieging the university, the al-Shabab gunmen lined up non-Muslim students before executing them in the armed group’s bloodiest attack to date.

The attack claimed the lives of 142 students, three police officers and three soldiers.

President Uhuru Kenyatta on Saturday pledged that the attackers would face justice for the “mindless slaughter” and vowed to retaliate for the killings in the “severest way”.

Previous strikes

Monday’s air strikes were not the first launched by Kenya against al-Shabab targets.

In June last year, Kenyan fighter jets attacked two bases belonging to al-Shabab fighters in Somalia, killing at least 80 of them, according to African Union (AU) peacekeeping troops deployed there.

The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), whose soldiers launched a new offensive against al-Shabab last year, said the Kenyan jets carried out the raids on Anole and Kuday in Somalia’s southern Lower Jubba region.

Kenya first sent its troops into neighbouring Somalia in 2011 after several attacks inside its territory that it blamed on al-Shabab. It later joined the AMISOM peacekeeping force.

Al-Shabab has since carried out a string of attacks to punish Kenya for its intervention, including a raid on Nairobi’s Westgate shopping mall in September 2013 that killed at least 67 people.

Kenya responded the following November by “completely destroying” an al-Shabab training camp about 300km west of the Somali capital Mogadishu, which was believed to have housed more than 300 al-Shabab recruits.

Al-Shabab threatens more attacks in Kenya after Garissa

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Somali armed group that attacked university killing 148 on Thursday warns that Kenyan cities will “run red with blood”.

by Al Jazeera

kenya-attack-Al-Shabab

Al-Shabab, the Somali armed group that carried out a deadly attack on a Kenyan university killing 148 people on Thursday, has threatened to stage more attacks in the country.

In a statement issued on Saturday, the group warned Kenyans that their cities will “run red with blood”.

“No amount of precaution or safety measures will be able to guarantee your safety, thwart another attack or prevent another bloodbath from occurring in your cities,” the statement read.

Four al-Shabab fighters stormed the Garissa University College campus in what appeared to be an extensively planned out attack, which the group says was to avenge Kenya’s involvement in Somalia.

Kenya’s interior ministry said the dead included 142 students, three policemen and three soldiers.

The ministry said on Saturday that five men – suspected accomplices – were arrested in connection with the attack.

Surviving students have been taken to a military camp, waiting to be bussed home as the university has been indefinitely closed.

Christine Onyongo, one of the survivors, told Al Jazeera that she had heard the attackers threatening female students that they would be burnt. Women were then let out, holding their hands up.

She said the men were treated more harshly, “especially those who were arguing”.

“They were just slaughtering them,” she said..

Like many other students, Onyongo said she would not come back to Garissa.

“After what I saw, not me – I can’t come back.”

Survivor found

A clean-up operation was going on as security personnel searched the university complex for more survivors and bodies on Saturday.

A female student, 19-year-old Cynthia was found alive.

“I just hid on top of a wardrobe the whole time. I could hear them shouting and shooting,” she told Al Jazeera. “At some point they came to our hostel and took two of my friends. I just hid and hid and when I got hungry ate some body lotion that was in a paper bag.”

The attack, in which all four assailants were killed, was the deadliest on Kenya’s soil since the 1998 bombing of the US embassy in Nairobi, which killed more than 200 people.

Kenya sent troops to Somalia in 2011 following cross-border raids and attacks on its coastal towns blamed on al-Shabab.

In September 2013, 67 people were killed as al-Shabab besieged a shopping mall in Nairobi.

Anger over the Garissa massacre was compounded by the fact there were warnings last week that an attack on a university was imminent. Local residents accused the authorities of doing little to boost security in the little-developed region.

Garissa resident Kabange Kimani said there had been promises of increased security before.

“An attack happens, we are reassured of security. Security will be beefed up. Some high-profile figures will come from Nairobi. They land here for a few hours and go back, only for this thing to happen a few days later,” he told Al Jazeera.

But Nathif Adam, the governor of Garissa county, said the government is doing its best.

“I think it’s not fair to say that security is not doing well,” Adam told Al Jazeera. “I can confidently say that the Kenya security team and officials are doing their best possible. The only unfortunate thing is that here you’re fighting guerrilla type terrorism which can attack anytime, anywhere.

“The level of preparedness of government is adequate […] but this is an international terrorist group.”

Al-Shabab siege of Kenya university leaves 147 dead

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Day-long siege of campus in northeastern town comes to bloody end, with mostly students killed.

kenya-attack-Al-Shabab

by Al Jazeera

At least 147 people have been killed after Kenyan troops cleared a university dormitory in the town of Garissa in northeast Kenya that had been seized by al-Shabab gunmen, the interior ministry says.

Members of the Somalia-based group attacked the campus after dawn on Thursday and were holed up in a dormitory with hostages until the evening.

Officials said 79 students had been injured in the attack, and 587 had been evacuated.

Security forces had encircled the building exchanging sporadic bursts of gunfire with the fighters inside, who were believed to have been holding scores of students hostage.

Witnesses told Al Jazeera they heard heavy gunfire and saw smoke coming from the campus on Thursday evening as the standoff came to an end.

Joseph Nkaissery, the interior minister, said four attackers had strapped themselves with explosives.

A female student who escaped the hostage drama told Al Jazeera that she had stepped over more bodies than she could count as she got out of the university.

Al Jazeera’s Malcolm Webb, reporting from Garissa, said security officials were now working on identifying bodies and moving them to the morgue.

The attack was the worst in Kenya since the 1998 bombing of the US embassy in Nairobi by al-Qaeda, when 213 people were killed by a huge truck bomb.

In 2013, al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the attack on the Westgate mall that left 67 people dead.

Thursday’s assault began when the first grenades were used before dawn to blast open the gates of the university, near the border with war-torn Somalia.

The masked gunmen then stormed the university as students were sleeping in their dormitories, shooting dead dozens before taking hostages. Al-Shabab said it had set Muslims free and captured Christians.

The al-Qaeda-linked group said the assault was launched in revenge for Kenya sending troops to fight al-Shabab in Somalia.

Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta said the lack of security infrastructure had contributed to the crisis.

“We have suffered unnecessarily due to a shortage of security personnel. Kenya needs additional officers, and I will not keep the nation waiting,” he said.

After the attack, the country’s interior ministry announced a 12-hour curfew starting at 6.30pm in Garissa, Wajir, Mandera, and Tana River counties.

Rescued hostages were treated at a nearby hospital [Alinoor Moulid Bosh/Al Jazeera]

Security forces surrounded the campus after gunmen opened fire indiscriminately in campus hostels [AP]

UK and Israel supported Kenyan program of extrajudicial killings

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Kenyan officers suggest program in which terrorism suspects were killed without trial on basis of Western intelligence

Kenya extrajudicial killings

by Al Jazeera

Kenyan police have assassinated nearly 500 terrorism suspects as part of an extrajudicial killing program supported by intelligence provided by Israel and the United Kingdom, an Al Jazeera investigation has revealed.

Officers from four units of Kenya’s Anti-Terrorism Police Unit (ATPU) said that police assassinated terrorist suspects on government orders.

The police killings, according to an ATPU officer, were ordered by Kenya’s National Security Council and run into the hundreds every year. “Day in, day out, you hear of eliminating suspects,” the officer said.

“Since I was employed, I’ve killed over 50. Definitely, I do become proud because I’ve eliminated some problems,” said another officer.

The ATPU officers contend that Kenya’s weak judicial system forced them to resort to assassinations, as police have failed to produce strong enough evidence to prosecute terrorism suspects.

“If the law cannot work, there’s another option … eliminate him,” an officer explained.

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and National Security Council members — including the deputy president, defense secretary and policy chief — denied the allegations.

In April, Abubaker Shariff Ahmed, an armed fighter known as Makaburi, was gunned down outside a Mombasa court after being charged under Kenya’s terrorism laws. Human rights groups allege police killed him.

ATPU officers confirmed the allegations. “Makaburi was killed by the police,” said one officer. “That execution was planned in Nairobi by very top, high-ranking police officers and government officials.”

Confidential police reports obtained by Al Jazeera allegedly show Makaburi had extensive links to Somali armed group Al-Shabab and planned and financed bombings in Kenya.

According to the ATPU officers, the intelligence that drives Nairobi’s “elimination program,” is supplied by Western intelligence agencies.

“Once they give us the information, they know what they have told us. It is ABCD — ‘Mr. Jack’ is involved in such and such a kind of activity. Tomorrow he’s no longer there. We have worked. Definitely the report that you gave us has been worked on,” the officer said.

A Kenyan National Police spokesman refused to comment on the allegations.

According to the officers, Israel and the U.K. provide training, equipment and intelligence to Kenyan officers on how to “eliminate” suspects targeted by Kenyan security forces.

Israel and the U.K. denied involvement. The U.K. Foreign Office added that it had “raised concerns” with Kenya over the “serious allegations.”

Mark Ellis, head of the International Bar Association, a leading organization of legal practitioners, said the alleged complicity of these countries could violate international law.

“It’s clear, based on these interviews, that there’s at least prima facie evidence to suggest that these third-party countries are involved, and therefore they all have responsibility to investigate,” Ellis said. “We should stop providing any type of assistance or training to police units in Kenya until there is a clear change … in how the Kenyan authorities deal with suspects.”

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