Kenya's young and growing population presents a huge market for investors. When applying the population growth of Kenya (3.2%), a conservative approach ignoring the high number in children in many Somali families, to the census figures from 1962 (about 270,000 counted as Somali), one should have expected to count about 640,000 people. ), municipal: 500 million cubic meters (2020 est. Weitzberg, The Unaccountable Census, 419. relatively successful government counter-insurgency campaign - have exhausted the local Ethiopian-Somali population sufficiently to push the ONLF back to the table. Kenya was, after Somalia, the second largest recipient of US-American anti-terrorism funds in Sub-Saharan Africa between 2013 and 2015. http://securityassistance.org/data/country/military/country/2011/2018/is_all/Africa [accessed 14 March 2017]. Refworld | Somalia: Information on the Ogaden clan in Somaliland ), production: 0 metric tons (2020 est. #KenyaInvestmentHub Pride of Africa . These fears were at the core of two discussions I was present at, taking place during the Coast Regional Peace Summit, Mombasa, 2011 and among Kenyan participants of a Conference on Refugees and Forced Migrants, Kilifi, 2016. Register a free Taylor & Francis Online account today to boost your research and gain these benefits: Ambiguous citizens: Kenyan Somalis and the question of belonging, Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, Department Integration and Conflict, Halle (Saale), Germany, Accidental Citizens: Etherealizing Securitized Identities of Somalis in Kenya; Contesting Representation, Identity and Belonging, Marginal Actors? Both of them, as good Muslims, did not go out to bars, but instead played video games in the evening and enjoyed Somali music. )wine: 0.04 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est. Their presence also transformed the urban retail sector, which changed in the 1990s due to Somali traders and the establishment of Somali shopping centres.Footnote38 With this visible presence of Somalis in the economic and political sphere, anti-Somali sentiments have grown stronger, culminating in fears that Somalis are taking over KenyaFootnote39 and that Kenya is colonized by refugees.Footnote40 These fears are not only strong among the Christian population, but also among Muslims, whose communities experienced changed power relations due to the immigration of Somalis to the cities. 11. )consumption: 821,000 metric tons (2020 est. Who this term refers to, and if it means insider or outsider, depends on the circumstances.Footnote109 The diverse images of Somalis in Kenya, resulting from different historical trajectories, are aggregated in a meta-image of the ambiguous citizen. 65 In 1948 and 1962 enumeration in Northern Province was not done by household because of sparse population and logistical difficulties. There had been warnings that were not taken seriously concerning the attacks on the Westgate Mall (2013), the coastal town Mpeketoni close to Lamu (2014), as well as on the Garissa University College (2015).Footnote69 Moreover, when the Kenyan security apparatus reacted, it did so in an incoherent and chaotic way.Footnote70 Instead of improving coordination between the multiple security agencies, political actors responded in the same manner as before by blaming terrorism on Somali refugees in particular and the Somali inhabitants of Kenya in general, externalizing insecurity by utilizing the image of Somalis as ambiguous citizens, ignoring that many of the attackers were neither Kenyan Somalis nor Somali nationals.Footnote71. Aminas mother tries to support the family by running a textile shop in one of the Somali shopping centres, but money is always scarce. See Balaton-Chrimes, Counting as Citizen.. Counting ethnic affiliation was seen by some commentatorsFootnote49 as reintroducing ethnicity into politics when unity should be paramount. 101. http://kenyaimnotaterrorist.tumblr.com [accessed 21 April 2016]. )carbon dioxide emissions: 17.91 megatons (2016 est. When applying for a passport Kenyan Somalis had to complete a special form for applicants claiming citizenshipwho do not belong to an African tribe indigenous to Kenya. Hansard (Parliamentary Debate), April 28 1994, House of Representatives Official Report 1 (22), Republic of Kenya, p. 579. Accessed March 7, 2018. http://www.afrobarometer.org. A prominent figure of the Muslim Association of Nakuru, for instance, spoke about our Somalis as opposed to Somalis when talking about conflicts in the Muslim community (interviewed September 2012). Targets included police structures, nightclubs and bars, churches, but also buses and bus stations. Terrorist Attacks in Kenya Reveal Domestic Radicalization )spirits: 0.81 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est. )imports: 277 million kWh (2019 est. Horn of Africa. On the one hand Kenyan Somalis are in a particularly vulnerable position as they are under threat of arrest and deportation, on the other hand they are perceived as overwhelming in numbers and as more dangerous to the status quo due to their greater visibility in the economic and political sphere. Citizenship does, however, not only mean a formal affiliation to the state. Created in 1994, 3 it has an official population of 4.5 million, 4 predominantly ethnic Somalis, Ethiopia's third largest nationality (around 6.2 per cent), and "roughly one-third of the widely . )$234.438 billion (2019 est. Lind et al., Killing a Mosquito, 1516. Examples are Aden Duale, who became the Majority Leader of the National Assembly, Amina Mohammed Jibril, Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs, and Adan Mohammed, Cabinet Secretary for Industrialization. )106.451 (2020 est. 62. The areas with altitudes between 1,400 and 1,600 metres are characterised as semi-arid; receiving as much as 500-600 mm of rainfall annually. Those who reside in southern Somalia (e.g. East Africa is the most populous subregion of Africa, with a population of approximately 455 million people. This notion laid the basis for rendering all Kenyan Somalis as non-native Africans after independence.Footnote81 In the late 1990s and early 2000s Somali Members of Parliament spoke about a policy of apartheid and of biological nationalism.Footnote82 The only other group having such an in-between status are Nubians,Footnote83 who have to go through a similar vetting process when applying for national identification documents, which includes not only the presentation of numerous documents (such as parents birth certificates), but also the recognition by a chief to indeed belong to the local community.Footnote84, The racial component also plays out in the daily life of Kenyan Somalis. )crude oil and lease condensate imports: 0 bbl/day (2018 est. The situation of an Ogaden born in Kenya is very different from the one of an Ogaden born in Kismayo from one born in Region 5. ), lowest 10%: 1.8%highest 10%: 37.8% (2005), 3.42% of GDP (2021 est. By around the 9th century, the mix of Africans, Arabs, and Persians who lived and traded there became known as Swahili ("people of the coast") with a distinct language (KiSwahili) and culture. Fitch rating: B+ (2007)Moody's rating: B2 (2018)Standard & Poors rating: B+ (2010)note: The year refers to the year in which the current credit rating was first obtained. (Kiswahili), Christian 85.5% (Protestant 33.4%, Catholic 20.6%, Evangelical 20.4%, African Instituted Churches 7%, other Christian 4.1%), Muslim 10.9%, other 1.8%, none 1.6%,don'tknow/no answer0.2% (2019 est.). 55. Interviews with Mzee Jamal and with Nabiil, Nakuru, October 2010. )crude oil estimated reserves: 0 barrels (2021 est. ), revenues: $16.885 billion (2019 est. Following McIntoshs contention that one way to claim Kenyanness is to appeal to a civic nationalism, in which all groups invested in the nation are equally welcome, this article argues based on ethnographic data gathered since 2010 as well as archival sources that many Kenyan Somalis are ready to take this possibility up, if they have the chance to do so. Formula Narratives and the Making of Social Stratification and Inequality, The Ogaden and the Fragility of Somali Segmentary Nationalism, Killing a Mosquito with a Hammer: Al-Shabaab Violence and State Security Responses in Kenya, Between a Protracted and a Crisis Situation: Policy Responses to Somali Refugees in Kenya, Rendering Difference Visible: The Kenyan State and its Somali Citizens, Soil, Work, Civilisation, and Citizenship in Kenya, Autochthony and Family: The Politics of Kinship in White Kenyan Bids to Belong. )subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 123 (2021 est. )other alcohols: 0.03 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est. )solar: 1% of total installed capacity (2020 est. Changes in identification over time are also indicated by the Afrobarometer data concerning ethnic versus national identification. ), water pollution from urban and industrial wastes; water shortage and degraded water quality from increased use of pesticides and fertilizers; flooding; water hyacinth infestation in Lake Victoria; deforestation; soil erosion; desertification; poaching, party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping-London Convention, Marine Dumping-London Protocol, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whalingsigned, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements, particulate matter emissions: 25.85 micrograms per cubic meter (2016 est. The ambiguousness of citizenship for Kenyan Somalis was complicated further in the 1990s, with the increasing number of Somalian refugees in Kenya.Footnote29 While this number officially includes only those registered as refugees, many more Somalians live outside the camps in the northeastern region as well as in Kenyan urban centres.Footnote30 From the early 1990s onwards, anti-refugee sentiments were aimed at Somalians. )101.302 (2018 est. )female: 2.7% (2020 est. In 2013, the elections fostered a co-optation of the Kenyan Somali population; at the same time, they were the focus of a securitization discourse, which in turn resulted in another alienation of the Somali population of Kenya. Before moving to Nakuru as a teenager, he lived in a small town at the coast. (English)The World Factbook, Chanzo cha Lazima Kuhusu Habari ya Msingi. ), on food: 52.9% of household expenditures (2018 est. )proven reserves: 0 cubic meters (2021 est. . This status was similar to that of Nubians, see Sarre, The Nubians of Kibera.. Kenyan Somalis have become a stronger part of the Kenyan political sphere, as well as of the Kenyan economy, yet they are still marginalized in terms of legal recognition of their citizenship. 113. Her mother grew up in Garissa in northeastern Kenya. According to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Somalia ranks as fourth-lowest in gender equality 41 . agriculture: 34.5% (2017 est. In 2013 it was merged with the Ministry of Devolution and Planning. While this could be interpreted as just another example of the ethnicized Kenyan public, for Kenyan Somalis incidents such as this accentuate their feeling of not belonging to the society. The first and biggest are the inhabitants of the northeastern region of Kenya, bordering Somalia and Ethiopia. 78. )101.991 (2019 est. Giving Informality Room. Marehan, Murulle, Degodia & Garre need to secede from Kenya - SomaliNet See also Menkhaus, Conflict Assessment, 94 and 110. While the issuance of identity papers is the states main instrument for making citizens, that state has further tools for placing people inside or outside the category of citizens. It is Kenya that does not want Somalis in Kenya.Footnote10, Even in colonial times, the Somali population of British East Africa was treated differently from other inhabitants. 28 Apr 2023 12:38:55 )industrial: 300 million cubic meters (2020 est. Meanwhile, the situation in neighbouring Somalia worsened, starting with the Ogaden war (19771978). This makes it more difficult for the vast majority of Somalis not involved in these movements to claim their Kenyanness. Numbering 2.4 million, they were now the sixth biggest ethnic group. the song Narudi nyumbani/coming home by Nameless, written in 2010 as a tribute to Kenyan sportspeople who represent (their) nation), advertisements (such as Niko na Safaricom/I have Safaricom, a mobile network operator in Kenya) and TV shows.Footnote43 Furthermore, the idea was at the core of civil society initiatives. 30. 110. As in many of the long-term urbanized Kenyan Somali families, Somali was not spoken frequently at home. 23. ), 5.74% (2021 est. Almost 40% of Kenyans are under the age of 15 as of 2020 because of sustained high fertility, early marriage and childbearing, and an unmet need for family planning. ), production: 0 cubic meters (2021 est. )permanent crops: 0.9% (2018 est. Although some of these instruments potentially open new spaces for the socio-political involvement of the Somali inhabitants of Kenya, those spaces are constricted by securitization discourses persistent othering of Kenyas Somali communities. The Ogaden (Somali: Ogaadeen, Arabic: ) is a Somali clan, and one of the largest Darod subclans. See for instance, Soysal, Limits of Citizenship; Al-Sharmani and Horst, Marginal Actors?. )investment in fixed capital: 18.9% (2017 est. UNPO: Ogaden - Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization According to Human Rights . Meeting Kenyan Somalis from the northeastern part of the country, where Somali is spoken more frequently, can lead to a feeling of double exclusion: to be neither accepted as Somali nor to be able to claim belonging to any other Kenyan ethnic group. Lochery, Rendering Difference Visible, 617. Kenyan Somalis played an increasing (yet still small) role in political administration, as they were seen as neutral, as not connected to one of the influential ethnic groups. Which Countries Border Ethiopia? - WorldAtlas All Somalis were required to register and to prove their belonging, consolidating their position as ambiguous citizens.Footnote17 The various counterinsurgency measures taken by the Kenyan state had severe economic impacts and to this day, the northeastern region remains one of the least developed, producing a dual exclusion of both the region and its people,Footnote18 with the regular internal checkpoint in Garissa still resembling a border station to Kenya for many Somalis.Footnote19, Outside of the northeastern region, urbanized Kenyan Somalis also felt marginalized: they were not only held responsible for the secessionist movement, but also lost the socio-economic status they had occupied in pre-independence society. Fifty years of abuse and neglect is too long to endure. Between 2017 and 2023, the population needing humanitarian assistance in parts of Eastern Africa rose from 22.5 million to 68 million and, as reported in the financial tracking systems of the United Nation Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affair- UN-OCHA, the cost of humanitarian assistance doubled from US$4.1 billion to US$9.4 billion. )exports: 0 metric tons (2020 est. To learn about our use of cookies and how you can manage your cookie settings, please see our Cookie Policy. 36. 11 Mainly . His grandfather served as Sergeant in the colonial-era Kenya Police. Kenya's special envoy to the Horn of Africa, Ambassador Ali Bunow Korane, confirmed recently that the Ethiopian government and leadership of the ONLF have agreed to meet.