Daily Nation, Security laws illegal, declares High Court, 23 February 2015. http://www.nation.co.ke/news/politics/Security-laws-illegal-declares-High-Court/1064-2633342-jw2qp1/index.html. Kenya's young and growing population presents a huge market for investors. The first and biggest are the inhabitants of the northeastern region of Kenya, bordering Somalia and Ethiopia. The Nubians of Kibera Revisited: Detribalized Natives, Slum Dwellers, Middle Class? Similar harrowing testimony -- dismissed as rebel propaganda by the Ethiopian government -- was repeated by various Ogaden refugees who have trickled recently into different parts of Kenya's . )percent of municipal solid waste recycled: 8% (2009 est. If you are coming from a very different background, its difficult to match the same level. 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. 91. Thirdly, there are SomalianFootnote2 refugees (officially, they numbered about 285,000 people in December 2017).Footnote3 The last, and smallest, group are the relatively affluent Somalian returnees, who migrated from Somalia to Europe or North America in the 1990s and later returned to East African urban areas. 3099067 )from petroleum and other liquids: 16.459 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est. The host population within a 50km radius of the refugee complex has been growing at a rate of 11.7% per year since the refugees moved into Dadaab, according to a study commissioned by the Kenyan. Kenya is a source of emigrants and a host country for refugees. 13. Their perception of religious, economic and political marginalization partly derives from the feeling of lost power, which emerged with colonialism and intensified after independence. ), production: 0 cubic meters (2021 est. Changes in identification over time are also indicated by the Afrobarometer data concerning ethnic versus national identification. 31. The adjusted numbers published later are still considered dubious by many.Footnote53 Weitzberg has shown how problematic census results were already in colonial times.Footnote54 For nomadic populations, underreporting was observed frequently, as the census logic is linked to a sedentary lifestyle. )-0.25% (2020 est. )imports: 0 cubic meters (2021 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. No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors. )53.2% of GDP (2016 est. This was widely celebrated across the Ogadeen population in the Horn of Africa and in the diaspora. The Swahili language is widely used as a means of communication in several East African countries. After a series of attacks on Kenyan soil carried out by the militant Somalian movement al-Shabaab, its Kenyan affiliate al-Hijra or actors claiming proximity to these groups, the Kenyan security apparatus reacted with heavy-handed measures, especially targeting ethnic Somalis living in Kenya.Footnote66 Kenyas Operation Linda Nchi (Protect the country) in October 2011, intended to push back al-Shabaab fighters from southern Somalia,Footnote67 was followed by a series of retaliatory attacks by al-Shabaab, often carried out in areas inhabited by ethnic Somalis. In 1890, Germany and the UK divided up the region, with the UK taking the north and the Germans the south, including present-day Tanzania, Burundi, and Rwanda. When looking at those other groups Asians, Whites, Nubians or Arabs two main dimensions along which Kenyanness is constructed come into focus: a racial dimension and a cultural dimension. 40. 6. Collective punishment, however, persisted in the North Eastern Province. 86. I argue that many Kenyan Somalis are ready to take this possibility up, if they have the chance to do so. Many urbanized Somalis did not see their future in Kenya and moved to Europe in the 1990s and 2000s. ), production: 0 metric tons (2020 est. )101.991 (2019 est. While they have been treated as ambiguous citizens since independence, many think of themselves as Kenyans and at least in the last decade, Somalia, Somaliland and Puntland have not been central points of reference for many. Both the increased visibility of Somali politicians in Kenya, even in areas with a non-Somali majority population, and the growth of the Kenyan Somali population, according to the 2009 census, have intensified anxieties about Somalis taking over Kenya. 100. The Ogaden is the historical name for much of the current SNRS. Even though other communities, such as Maasai, Kalenjin, or Luo likewise spread over national borders, Kenyan Somali Members of Parliament lamented repeatedly that Kenya treats its Somali citizens differently than those other groups.Footnote90 The notion of pastoralism can, however, also serve as a binding element, as the elections 2013 showed. 41. The vision of a unified Kenya gained importance after the violence that followed the elections of 2007. We use cookies to improve your website experience. The practices around the issuance of identity papers, the discrimination through vetting processes, as well as the forgery of papers, led to hopes that the introduction of biometric databases could make the registration and recognition process more transparent. It attempted to recruit Kenyan Somali youth . 27. Sometimes the status of insider is almost impossible to reach. When the results were published in September 2010, Kenyan Somalis were, as in 1999, the strongest growing group. IEBC, Post-election Evaluation Report, 72. )103.41 (2017 est. One of the biggest took place in April 2014 as usalama watch (security watch), when police went to urban neighbourhoods where ethnic Somalis live to arrest foreign nationals and terrorism suspects.Footnote74 The government also used extra-judicial killings and disappearances mainly in the northeastern region, returning to strategies employed under emergency regulations.Footnote75 Thirdly, the border to Somalia was temporarily closed and in 2015 Kenya started to build a wall along it. Abdullahi, who is in his mid-40s, sees himself first and foremost as Kenyan. ), total: 26.94 deaths/1,000 live birthsmale: 29.94 deaths/1,000 live birthsfemale: 23.88 deaths/1,000 live births (2023 est. Cultural citizenship is also asserted by an investment in building Kenyas future,Footnote98 another way of working the soil.Footnote99 The involvement of Kenyan Somalis in the secession movement of the 1960s, and, today, in terrorist attacks, works in the opposite direction. McIntosh, Autochthony and Family, 265. The population is predominantly Somali, and there have been attempts to incorporate the area into a Greater Somalia. )$9.116 billion (31 December 2019 est. Registered in England & Wales No. 8. Precursors of this paper were presented at the Bayreuth Academy of Advanced African Studies in December 2013 and the Somali Studies Conference in Helsinki in 2015. Lochery, Rendering Difference Visible, 617. )5.73% (2020 est. Abdullahi left Nakuru immediately after recovering and started a new life in Nairobi. Interview with Mzee Jamal, November 2010. 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. With his brothers, he plans to start an agricultural business. In addition, archival sources about the history of urban Somali presence were gathered. Kenya National Assembly Official Record (Hansard), Parliamentary Debates, July 14, 1999, p. 1327 and October 24, 2001, p. 2713. )crude oil and lease condensate exports: 0 bbl/day (2018 est. Population and demographic of Mandera County: Garissa counry is 620,000 whereas Wajeer county is 660,000. Walaal means sister or brother in Somali and is, similar to warya, a reminder of difference. Ethnicity is a highly relevant category for political discussions and practices in Kenya, not only during elections, but also, for example, for the allocation of positions in the public sector. Daily Nation, Kenya Vows to Appeal Verdict Blocking Dadaab Camp Closure, 9 February 2017. http://www.nation.co.ke/news/High-Court-cancels-closure-of-Dabaab/1056-3806030-7enmgdz/index.html; Daily Nation, Weve to Shut Dadaab for Security, Uhuru Kenyatta Tells UN, 8 March 2017. http://www.nation.co.ke/news/-Dadaab-Uhuru-Kenyatta-UN-Antonio-Guterres/1056-3841890-2qvff6z/index.html. [9] History [ edit] Pre-colonial era [ edit] Because I realized this land was different from the land we were born in.Footnote94 Even though he often spoke about the marginalization of urbanized Kenyan Somalis, he emphasized attending public celebrations of Kenyan national holidays, such as the Madaraka day (in commemoration of Kenyas internal self-rule in 1963). Letter by B. Jommo, Cross-ethnic and Proud of Ourselves, Daily Nation, 14 August 2009. http://www.nation.co.ke/oped/Letters/440806-639674-8crbl7z/index.html. Ibrahim, The Checkered History, 1617; Interview with Nabiil, Nakuru, October 2010. Concerning Kenyan Somalis there are a number of additional issues at stake: high levels of non-compliance were reported during earlier censuses; the classification of who is recorded as Somali has changed over the time, making results difficult to compare; and finally, growing sedentarization poses further questions of comparability.Footnote55 At the same time, research shows how important the census is for the politics of recognition.Footnote56, Elections are another crucial moment for the politics of belonging in Kenya. Instead, a de jure count was undertaken, followed by sampling. Firstly, politicians demanded the closure of the refugee camps near the Somali border.Footnote72 Developments indicate that, this time, the Kenyan government seriously intends to shut down the refugee camp complex of Dadaab, despite a High Court ruling denouncing the planned closure as unconstitutional.Footnote73 Secondly, there were crackdowns on Somalian refugees living outside the camps. The establishment of counties, provided for in the new Constitution as an outcome of the post-electoral violence of 20072008, aimed at decentralizing power.Footnote57 Thereby the right of communities to manage their own affairs and to further their development was recognized.Footnote58 Minorities cautiously welcomed devolution, hoping for more control. Research Reports. The Ogaden (Somali: Ogaadeen, Arabic: ) is a Somali clan, and one of the largest Darod subclans. The position of Kenyan Somalis is, to speak in Yiftachel terms, situated in gray spaces, between the whiteness of legality or approval, and the blackness of eviction or destruction. In the 1970s, Somalia, supported by the United States, invaded Ethiopia, igniting the Ogaden War, which Somalia lost due to timely military intervention from the Soviet Union and its ally Cuba. )consumption: 0 cubic meters (2021 est. This may appear to be a gloomy conclusion, but there are some developments that might render the picture in brighter light. 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. McIntosh argues that one way for white Kenyans to claim Kenyanness is to appeal to a cosmopolitan ideal, a civic nationalism, in which all groups invested in the nation are equally welcome.Footnote113 As it was shown, the citizen-making instruments of the state in the last decade discussed with taking the example of the census and the elections reflect in content and usage the imagination of Kenya as a nation of diversity. )female: 2.7% (2020 est. )nuclear: 0% of total installed capacity (2020 est. Our background is more or less the same. This relevance is reflected in arguments about the census, taken every 10 years. The question for Kenyan Somalis is not, therefore, if they belong to Kenya, but how. )101.302 (2018 est. Even though Kenyan Somalis have been treated as ambiguous citizens since independence, the question for many of them is not so much if they belong to Kenya, but rather how. )wind: 10.7% of total installed capacity (2020 est. The term furthermore encompasses the diverse roles in which Kenyan Somalis can find themselves: as marginalized citizens in the northeastern region, as high-ranking politicians, as businesspeople in the metropoles and as urbanized (lower) middle class Kenyans. 82. #KenyaInvestmentHub Pride of Africa . The system we have gone through, the schooling, brings people closer together, the way we understand things. Afrobarometer Data, Kenya, R3R7, 2005/062016/18. Amina, a young woman in her early 20s, was born in Nakuru. Did you know that with a free Taylor & Francis Online account you can gain access to the following benefits? Weitzberg, The Unaccountable Census, 419. HRW, Death and Disappearances, 16; Lind et al., Killing a Mosquito, 14. [2] . Interview with Tusmo, Mombasa, August 2017. Ceuppens and Geschiere argue that, in many African countries, ideas of national citizenship have been pushed aside by notions of autochthony with their implicit exclusion of strangers (allochthons) since the early 1990s.Footnote4 In Kenya, autochthony discourses play indeed a role regarding questions of who can vote where, but not concerning the overall notion of citizenship. Their figures rely on the (problematic) census 2009. Abyssinia of eastern Africa. It also evokes the oscillating political treatment of Kenyan Somalis by the state, and the manifold ways in which Kenyan Somalis react to it. Talking from the current perspective an old man in Nakuru spoke about the early 1960s: In July [1960] Somalia was declared independent, in October I went there. Hassan mentioned Islam as the main element linking ethnic Somalis from Kenya and Somalia. [7] The Ogaden clan "constitutes the backbone of the ONLF ". Citizenship does, however, not only mean a formal affiliation to the state. People can be constructed as others and as not belonging to the nation-states community, even if formally they are entitled to.Footnote6 Following Yuval-Davis, citizenship in this text is situated in the wider context of contemporary politics of belonging which encompass citizenship, identities and the emotions attached to them.Footnote7 These diverging daily experiences of citizenship were especially debated in literature on immigration,Footnote8 but this discussion can also be applied to the context of Kenya. ), Kenyan shillings (KES) per US dollar -109.638 (2021 est. Interview with Abdullahi, Mombasa, August 2011. 90. One of the candidates, William Ruto, campaigned as a fellow pastoralist, suggesting that he and the northern voters should bring their herds together in the quest for northern development.Footnote91, McIntosh stated that whites in Kenya do not fit the stereotype of the wenyeji, a Kiswahili term invoking local inhabitants whocan take for granted cultural citizenship in the nation as a whole.Footnote92 She shows several strategies used by white Kenyans to underline their belonging to Kenya one of them consists of stressing their cultural citizenship, for instance by having attended Kenyan schools.Footnote93. For the first time it was possible to be counted as Kenyan, and about 600,000 people did so.Footnote50 In one letter to the Daily Nation, the author described himself as belonging to a group of urban detribalized or de-ethnicised Kenyans, growing up in neighbourhoods that are characterized by diversity and jamaa wa mtaa (family of the street): We may be a minority, but we represent the future.Footnote51 Furthermore, smaller ethnic groups tried to gain recognition by the state, which in the case of Nubians, for example, meant being finally accepted as Kenyans.Footnote52, The census count of Somali inhabitants of Kenya was also controversial.
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