Insecurity and Terrorism as Threats to EAC Integration: Developing a Common Position

1. Insecurity and Terrorism as Threats to EAC Integration: How Can EAC Develop a Common Position? A Rejoinder to the Presentation by Professor Mohamed Salih By: Paschal Mihyo Executive Director, Organization for Social Science Research in Eastern and Southern Africa (OSSREA)

2. Uncertainties caused by terrorism • Threats to protocols on trade- free movement of goods and persons • Stock and commodity market uncertainties during alerts and its impact on possible harmonization • Impact on tourism and common services- education, health etc • Added stigma: in addition to traditional stereotypes terrorism becomes a weapon for unfair competition between EAC and other blocks • Impact on sovereignty – countries become more divided by external allies • End of the dream that integration will bring communities together- zoning within countries; ethnic identities and rivalries • Loss of face: every time attacks take people lose faith in our collective and individual defense and security capabilities

3. Undermining the roots of ethnic and communal terrorism • De-institutionalize communal and ethnic terrorism- fight communal and ethnic hatred and ban the promotion of communal identities through media and political groupings • Understanding the extent of IT hate based propaganda • Develop common frameworks and laws on hate propaganda • Build capacity for tracking websites to ensure compliance with such laws and conscientize HR groups to the other victims’ rights • Implement international conventions that protect individuals from hate and attacks by hate groups; train prosecutors and judges • Develop guidelines to schools, parents, community leaders on how to prepare youth for democratic community • Revise books and teaching materials to provide a proper perspective of community histories and characteristics

4. A broader understanding of terrorism • EAC needs to address new and potential forms of terrorism • Eco-terrorism: violation of livelihoods – planting tress that will aggravate climate volatility; seeds that increase food insecurity; poisoning water sources- strengthen common bio-safety systems • Bio-terrorism: artificially engineered agents that can be spread through air, water or food. Anthrax was widely used by apartheid; Japan used infected fleas against China in 1942; Russia was developing anthrax as a bio weapon and unleashed it on its own people by mistake in 1979 – build knowledge systems on these • Transmittable diseases include: anthrax; botulism; ebola; plague; recombinat viruses, small pox and rabbit fever: stocks of these are abundant in Russia and the US – strengthen scanning capability • Radiological weapons: uranium, plutonium, plodium, radium and cobalt can be used for dirty bombs. Large stocks of these are avalbale in Khazakhstan, Krygyzstan and Tajikstan: Know more about these stockpiles

5. Possible attacks on infrastructure • We depend on electric power and have established power pools. Cross-border power services including oil pipelines are vulnerable to attacks as happened to Iraq in 2003 and Georgia in 2006- we need common security arrangements to protect these services • Identify common services and systems that are vulnerable and adopt common security strategies to defend them • Ensure effective protection of water, power and food supply systems • Build systems engineering into design of infrastructure and ensure it is security conscious. Popularize systems analysis in engineering training • Establish a presence and cooperation with countries with experience in handling techno-terrorism targeting infrastructure

6. Keep a watch on failed states • ‘When your neighbor’s house catches fire, you feel the heat’ • Most of the failed states are products of the cold war: they relied too much on allies and neglected their own people • When the cold war ended they were abandoned and could not stand on their own because they were not designed for self reliance • They deteriorated and have become sanctuaries of terrorist groups (they include: DRC, CAR, Somalia, Sudan and several in West Africa). Eritrea has recently allowed itself to become a failed state and a hub for the Eritrean Islamic Jihad Movement which claimed 1998 that East Africa belongs to Muslims and it will work with all radical Muslims organizations to liberate it from infidels. It has been the main conduit for Al Qaeda related funding for El Shabaab and other terrorist cells in the region. • The EAC has tried its best especially Kenya and Uganda ( Somalia) and Burundi, Tanzania and Rwanda (in Sudan) to tame the tide of fragility in the region. But there is need to prevent the emergence on new fragile states.

7. Concluding remarks • Current collective efforts are working but more is required • Shift from state centric to people centric security strategies • Intensify security reforms to impart technical capabilities to detect and control various forms of terrorism with less focus on political issues; combine power, commercial and security diplomacy • Security should involve communities and people (as in Ethiopia) • State centred land transfers have led to massive acquisition of land by groups that support terror and use acquired land to train terrorists. Land transfers should involve communities • Diplomatic channels should remain open but terrorism is a project not aimed at ending and terrorists have serious mistrust for diplomacy &governments (Kony and Shabaab are examples) • War should be the last resort: it costs too much and creates new problems ( the ‘wakombozi’ syndrome )if it takes long and fails to deliver. Therefore tackle the core problems –youth unemployment, illiteracy, ethnic hatred, corruption, and undemocratic governance.

8. END THANK YOU!!