Abstract
The reaction of the government in Kenya, like many other governments around the world, to terrorist attacks has generally been to strengthen existing laws and enact novel laws, especially those that aid the state’s intelligence-gathering capabilities, along with those that are punitive. In some cases, even in Kenya, States have taken, or have attempted to take, extra-Constitutional and unconstitutional actions. This is the approach that this paper characterises as arising from ‘temptation of power’, and in that regard, this interdisciplinary paper is—through an analysis of scholarship in law, sociology and information/ communication—an attempt to investigate the origin, results and wisdom of such an approach in the war against terror, its effect on the rule of law and minority rights in society; and propose why and how it can be avoided.
Highlights
If one would, of late,[1] say that the nation of Kenya has become a haven for terrorists, one would have good reason with reference to the line of terror attacks that the nation has suffered, almost consistently, in the last four years.[2]What catches the eye of any keen observer from this catalogue[3] is not that there have previously occurred much fewer terrorist attacks in Kenya[4] but ratherStrathmore Law Review, January 2016Cecil Yongo the way in which the attacks escalated, and became common fold, so much so that only the ones in which a huge number of people lost their lives, or were injured, elicited response from the highest echelons of government
Since this is a paper that attempts to prescribe, dissect, analyse and correct what it is that leads to government actors’ sometimes unconstitutional response/s to terrorism, it is prudent to begin by looking at how government actors did respond to the terrorist attacks
It follows that to successfully look at how government actors unconstitutionally reacted to the attacks, it is necessary that one begins by looking at the events, and examine the pressures, that come with the different terrorist attacks in Kenya
Summary
Of late,[1] say that the nation of Kenya has become a haven for terrorists, one would have good reason with reference to the line of terror attacks that the nation has suffered, almost consistently, in the last four years.[2]. Cecil Yongo the way in which the attacks escalated, and became common fold, so much so that only the ones in which a huge number of people lost their lives, or were injured, elicited response from the highest echelons of government Since this is a paper that attempts to prescribe, dissect, analyse and correct what it is that leads to government actors’ sometimes unconstitutional response/s to terrorism, it is prudent to begin by looking at how government actors did respond to the terrorist attacks. It follows that to successfully look at how government actors (whom I hereafter refer to as ‘government’ or ‘the state’) unconstitutionally reacted to the attacks, it is necessary that one begins by looking at the events, and examine the pressures, that come with the different terrorist attacks in Kenya
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