Crimes on the edge? Criminal activities and the crime-terror nexus in the Kenyan peripheries of the Indian Ocean

ABSTRACT

Maritime security threats in the East African coastal peripheries are greatly interwoven with local crimes, economies, and socio-political lifestyles. How crimes are viewed, defined, and categorised as legal and illegal by the locals elucidates how the crime-terrorism nexus is contextualised in specific localities along the coastal seafronts. Often, financial-motivated crimes have the potential to go hand in hand with ideologically driven terrorist activities, where both syndicates operate discreetly in these communities. Based on an ethnographic study in Kenya, this article interrogates the local meanings and understandings of criminal activities in peripheral societies to determine how local crimes intersect with terrorism-related activities. The crisscrossing modus operandi of criminal syndicates and terrorist networks provides each other with safe havens, secrecy in operations, and a vulnerable base of supporters in environments where state-citizen relationships are deteriorating.

KEYWORDS:

• Crime-terror nexus
• criminal activities
• coastal peripheries
• organised crimes
• terrorism
• maritime security

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Ngombeni is a coastal town in Malindi, Kilifi County, Kenya.

2. All names are pseudonyms used in this study.

3. Interview with fisherman (A21), Ngombeni, Kilifi, July 2022.

4. Interview with Beach Management Unit personnel (A15), Shimoni, Kwale, January 2022.

5. The findings emanated from a larger project on recruitment dynamics for the Al-Shabaab under the research permit, NACOSTI/P/19/248.

6. In Kenya, beach management units were established for each fish landing station by the director in accordance with the provisions of the Fisheries Act, focusing on the strengthening of the management of fish landing sites.

7. Al-Shabaab is a designated terrorist organisation originating from Somalia with transnational links in many East African countries. Al-Shabaab returnees are those who have gone from Kenya to Somalia and are returning to Kenya.

8. Interview with fisherman (A3), Vanga, January 2022.

9. Interview with boda boda transporter (A16), Majoreni, January 2022.

10. Interview with fisherman (A47), Kiunga, June 2022.

11. Interview 2 with Village Elder (A2), Vanga, January 2022.

12. Interview with woman leader, (A30) Ngomeni, May 2022; and Interview with Religious leader, Vanga, January 2022.

13. Interview with Fisherman (21), Shimoni, Kwale, January 2022.

14. Interview with village elder (A5) Vanga, January 2022.

15. Interview with fishermen, (A4) Vanga, January 2022.

16. Interview with village elder (A6), Vanga, January 2022.

17. Interview with youth leader (A13), Majoreni, January 2022.

18. Interview with BMU personnel (A24), Shimoni, January 2022.

19. Interview with woman leader (A48), Lamu, July 2022.

20. Interview with religious leader (A35), Mambrui, April 2022.

21. Interview with boat rider (A57), Kiunga, June 2022.

22. Interview with youth leader (A37), Mambrui, April 2022.

23. Interview with woman leader (A43), Kiunga, June 2022.

24. Interview with fisherman, (A4), Vanga, January 2022.

25. Interview with fisherman, (A4), Vanga, January 2022.

26. Interview with boda-boda motorbike transporter (A1), Majoreni, January 2022.

27. Interview with youth (A59), Kizingithini, July 2022.

28. Interview with youth (A59), Kizingithini, July 2022.

29. Interview with fisherman, (A44), Lamu, June 2022.

30. Voluntary recruitment to terrorist recruitment involved the willingness to join the network due to intrinsic or extrinsic factors. Involuntary recruitment referred to those who were forced to join the network via deceptive practices or trafficked into the network. For a detailed understanding see: Badurdeen, F. A. (Badurdeen, 2020). ; Women who volunteer: a relative autonomy perspective in Al-Shabaab female recruitment in Kenya. Critical Studies on Terrorism. DOI: 10.1080/17539153.2020.1810993

31. Interview with boat rider (A45), Lamu, June 2022.

32. Interview with BMU personnel (A22), Shimoni, January 2022.

33. Interview with boat rider (A50), Lamu, August 2022.

34. Interview with village elder (A16), Majoreni, Kwale, January 2022.

35. Interview with fisherman (A44), Lamu, June 2022.

36. Interview with businessman (A58), Faza, July 2022.

37. Interview with Boda Boda rider (A12), Mambrui, May 2022.

38. Interview with youth (A58), Kiunga, July 2022.

39. Interview with fisherman (A44), Lamu, June 2022.

40. Interview with woman leader (A43), Lamu, June 2022.

41. Interview with fisherman, (A7) Vanga, Kwale, January 2022.

42. Interview with fisherman, (A23) Majoreni, Kwale, January 2022.

43. Interview with women leader (A56), Faza, July 2022.

44. Interview with businessman (A58), Faza, July 2022.

45. Interview with Religious Leader, Kiunga (A42), June 2022.

46. Interview with NGO Personnel, Lamu (A50), June 2022.

47. Interview with youth leader, Faza (A59), June 2022.

48. Interview with reformed gang member (A48), Kizingithini, July 2022.

49. Interview with boat rider (A45), Lamu, June 2022.

50. Interview with fisherman, (A7) Vanga, Kwale, January 2022.

51. Interview with youth leader, (A18) Majoreni, Kwale, January 2022.

52. Interview with fisherman, (A23) Majoreni, Kwale, January 2022.

53. Interview with fisherman, (A23) Majoreni, Kwale, January 2022.

54. Interview with fisherman, (A44), Lamu, June 2022.

55. Interview with youth leader, (A37), Mambrui, April 2022.

56. Interview with NGO Personnel, Lamu (A50), June 2022.

57. Interview with NGO Personnel, Lamu (A50), June 2022.

58. Interview with fisherman, (A7) Vanga, Kwale, January 2022.

59. Interview with youth leader, (A37), Mambrui, April 2022.

60. Interview with women leader, (A36), Malindi, April 2022.