Writes Leo Odera Omolo in Kisumu city
INFORMATION emerging from Addis Ababa says the African Union {AU} has embarked on a race to fight piracy, a major challenge for several coastal countries in the continent.
A meeting of experts on maritime security, was held in Addis Ababa two weeks ago. The Ethiopia government sought to develop a holistic policy to address the vice which is increasingly becoming a major challenge for several African coastal countries.
The gathering in Addis Ababa on this subject came at time when Kenya, though having an agreement with Western naval powers for the transfer and prosecution of suspected pirates, has declined to accept any more captured pirates.
Kenya, since last month, has declined to prosecute the pirates, arguing that its courts lack expertise, translators, and are already back-logged with a huge excess of domestic cases.
But sources have confided to us that fears persist in Kenya of possible terrorist attack on the country’s important installations and facilities in retaliation by a number of al-Qaeda backed terrorist groups operating in the neighboring Somalia and from the Gulf Arab states.
The coast of Somalia is currently infested with pirates that attack and hijack foreign vessels and merchant ships that use the Gulf of Aden en route to their travel destinations.
It is estimated that Kenya has over 100 suspected pirates held in its prison custody serving up to 20 years prison sentences.
AU Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy, Mrs Etham Ibrahim, said that though for years Africa has mostly been concerned by declining capacity of maritime industry. The growing menace means more attention must be given to maritime security.
She pointed out that piracy has served as a “wake-up call to the leadership in Africa to take concrete action to rid the continent of these scourges which are undermining economic activity and the image of the continent.”
“As we move from talking to taking concrete action, my message has been on the necessity of putting in place practical measures that would lead us to achieve real milestones in addressing every related to the maritime security situation in Africa,” said Ibrahim.
Speaking on behalf of Malawi, who is chairing the Union, Mr Ernest Makawa emphasized the need to take action for maritime safety and security to protect fisheries which make ‘a vital contribution to the food and nutritional security of 200 million Africans and provide income for over 10 million people’ .
Mr Makawa invited the experts to bear in mind that a threat-free maritime domain is a prerequisite “for an integrated and prosperous Africa.”
In this regard, he added, there must be a corresponding African endeavor to address maritime security, while the variety of actors threatening Africa’s maritime domain grows.
The Addis Ababa meeting of the experts on maritime security and safety examined the new AU’s African Integrated Maritime Strategy {AIM-Strategy}, which aims to achieve a comprehensive understanding of existing and potential challenges and allocation of resources to identified priorities.
The strategy also aims at designing a comprehensive, concerted, coherent and coordinated approach that improves maritime conditions in respect of environment and socio-economic development.
Ends
Leooderaomolo@yahoo.com