Bartamaha (Nairobi):- Recent reports have given the impression that Kenya is a “dumping ground for pirates”, accepting piracy suspects for trial, with no Kenyan interest at stake and no support provided by those who transfer suspects. This does not correspond to reality.
Kenya has a direct economic and security interest in countering piracy, playing its role within the larger international effort, and receiving help to do so. Kenya is an economic victim of piracy. Piracy, as a threat to international shipping, has a direct impact on Mombasa and the consumer.
The Kenya Shippers Council estimates that piracy would increase the monthly import costs by $23.8 million and exports by $9.8 million. Some shipping companies now avoid Mombasa all together. Others have seen insurance costs rise, passed on to Kenyan consumers. Cruise ships are also avoiding Mombasa as a consequence of piracy, reducing the potential for tourism.
Without the well-coordinated international effort to tackle piracy at sea, those impacts would be much worse. From the EU’s Atalanta mission, there are six ships at any one time, at a cost dwarfing that Kenya is able to contribute. This force works for the international interest, including Kenya’s. It helps mitigate the damage to Kenya’s economy. And it generates revenue for businesses which service the international naval effort.
But aside from the economics, there is a direct security interest. Kenyan citizens themselves are being attacked. The Kenyan flagged ship FV Sakoba was hi-jacked recently with 10 Kenyans on board. Kenya also needs a stable Somalia that piracy only undermines.
So there is a shared interest in a robust response to piracy. Long-term solutions need to be found within Somalia itself to really address the root causes. But now we need collective deterrence, of which the arrest, prosecution and conviction of pirates is an important part.
The recent conviction by a Mombasa court of eight pirates to 20 years in prison is a good example of this international cooperation bearing fruit. Piracy suspects have also been taken to Europe for trial. Kenya and the EU stand at the forefront of international efforts to combat piracy.
The EU can supply the hardware, the naval taskforce. Kenya is playing its role by prosecuting and detaining piracy suspects, and is getting help to do so. Through a UN Office for Drugs and Crime programme, the EU and member states have provided more than Sh100 million since May 2009, with much more to come as part of the cooperation agreement.
We have supported the trial and detention of pirates; up-grading of prisons, court and staff facilities; and direct support to the Department of Public Prosecution and the police. And that is not all. There have been 110 suspects handed over to Kenya — only 0.2 per cent of the total prisoner population in Kenya. But we recognise that we could assist more broadly. So, in Mombasa, the programme has helped the Judiciary reduce prisoners on remand by 517.
Other countries in the region are contributing too. The Seychelles has 31 piracy suspects on trial. Others have committed their cooperation. The international community is also working to improve prison conditions in Somalia to enable the return of convicted pirates to serve part of their prison sentences there.
We should, of course, be alert to security issues as a result of the interdiction of pirates, but not over-play them. Doing so would lend a mystique to their actions and networks, which they do not deserve.
The writer is the head of the EU Delegation to the Republic of Kenya
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Source:-Daily Nation

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