(Njenga, Nyamai & Kigamwa 2004) (Njenga, Nyamai & Kigamwa 2004). Mungiki was famous for its terror activities in the late 1990s and the early 2000s. There are many theories regarding the cause of terrorism in Kenya with some blaming religion, such as the Islam and others associating it with the Kenyan politics. According to Njenga, Nyamai, and Kigamwa (2004), Kenya suffered one of its terror attacks in the 1998 US embassy bombing in which more than 200 people died and property worth millions of shillings destroyed. The bombers were the members of the Al Qaida group, aimed at the American interests, since the terrorists bombed the US embassy in Tanzania too, according to Schaefer (2006). The other attack in 2002 targeted the Israeli properties in Mombasa, where they destroyed an Israel-owned hotel and attempted to strike their airliner through a missile attack (Schaefer 2006). There are many other attacks in Kenya by terrorists such as the Westgate attack and the quarry massacre in the North Eastern parts of Kenya, which is one of the latest attacks. The possible causes of the terrorist attacks may include

The presence of the Kenyan Troops in Somalia

In the year 2011, the former President of Kenya Mwai Kibaki sent troops to Somalia to attack the AL-Shabab militia group, which is a member of the Al-Qaida terror group (Hughes 2012). The group was terrorizing tourists at the Kenyan coast, through killings and kidnappings. Since the troops landed in Somalia, Kenya experienced many terror attacks especially in Eastleigh, where majority of the residents and business owners are from Somali (Hughes 2012). The other region that experienced many grenade attacks was the Northern parts of Kenya, an area with many Somali refugees and nationals. Some of the Somali Nationals have valid documents for residing in Kenya while others lack them. According to the terrorists, the attack aimed at forcing the Kenyan Troops from Somalia and was a retaliatory attack as Hughes (2012) observes. However, Kenyan authorities declined to withdraw their military troops from Somalia, which led to repeated attacks in Nairobi, Mombasa, and Northeastern towns. According to Birkett (2013), the Kenyan troops in Somali land faced several accusations of illegal dealings, such as the sale of charcoal that led to land degradation in the land. More so, most of those who participated in the charcoal business were the Alshabaab supporters, who used the money to fund the terror group. There were also some accusations that the Kenyan soldiers were raping the Somali women and children (Birkett 2013). All these activities infuriated the Somali nationals, and they carried out their retaliatory attacks on innocent Kenyans. Another instance that supports the claim that the attacks were retaliatory is the Westgate shopping mall attack in which the Al-Shabaab group that claimed responsibility argued that Kenyans were meddling with Kismayo (Birkett 2013). Kismayo is a town in Somalia where the Al-Shabab group operates and carries out training of its members.

Religious differences

Most of the terror attacks targeted Christians in churches, which led to the belief that the attackers were Muslims and that the attacks were due to the religious differences. In several attacks, the terrorists killed Christians and spared the Muslims claiming that they were their brothers. Many people believed that the major cause of terrorism is religious differences between the Muslims, who are the minority group and the Christians Birkett 2013). Another idea to suggest that religious differences are the major cause of terrorist attacks in Kenya is because of the composition of the top leaders of the Al-Shabab group. According to Birkett (2013), t (Rosenau 2005). (Rosenau 2005). The Hijra consists of mainly foreign Muslims while the radicalized youths are mainly Muslims from the Swahili community. The coastal community, which is mainly Muslims, feels inferior to the Bantu communities and always tries to fight for equality. The struggle for equality leads to the radicalization of the Swahili Muslims, considered as a lower class in the Islamic world. According to Rosenau (2005), many foreign Muslims, who enter Kenya face hostility and accusations of spreading new radicalized beliefs to the local Muslims. There are some radicalized groups of Islam, such as Wahhabism, which faces rejection in Kenya because of its radicalized beliefs. The members of the radicalized Muslims known as Rosenau in the Kenyan Coast play a big role in terrorism activities (Rosenau 2005).

Insufficient law enforcement and counter-terrorism policies

Since the year, 2011 there were counter-terrorism units in the law enforcers and the intelligence unit in Kenya. However, the counter-terrorism groups faced many challenges in combating terror in the country, which make it impossible to wipe the attackers and their allies (Birkett 2013). The main problem in Kenya is insufficient funds and lack little support from the Western countries, which have experience in handling terror cases. When terrorists bombed the US embassy, the country formed the National Intelligence Service NIS (Henneke 2007). The problem is that the body never got any funds for its operation since its handover to the US Terrorism Assistance Program. Kenya also has the Anti- (Henneke 2007). Kenya has flawed terrorism laws, and the definition of terrorism does not incorporate political, criminal rationales and ideological views as Henneke (2007) observes. According to Kenya, the definition of terrorism is “the anti-state violence undertaken by nonstate entities, which are motivated by religious goals” (Mogire & Agade 2011). The definition discriminates Islam, which is the minority religion. Lack of a comprehensive anti-terrorism bill hinders the effectiveness of combating terrorism in the country, and the human group accusations against the intelligence officials for detaining terror suspects makes the situation worse.The Anti-terror unit arrested one suspected terrorist Abdulmalik Mohamed, in the 2002 Mombasa attacks (e untrained enforcers, and the legislations of Kenya could not facilitate complete investigations, after which they added him over to the US. Many terrorists take advantage of the situation to attack Kenya, especially the Westgate attack in Nairobi. The security force was unable to work as a team and brought a lot of confusion in the operation, which led toMogire & Agade 2011). It is true to argue that the major cause of terrorism activities in Kenya is due to the flawed legislation and ineffective anti-terror officers.

Economic and political influence

. The discrimination existed since the colonial days and facilitated terrorism, when the locals sympathize with the terrorists (Whitaker 2008). Most of the development activities are in the Rift Valley, Western, and the central Kenya, where there are many political elites. Many of the attacks take place just before the general elections that suggest that politics is to blame in many cases. For example, there were about 30 attacks before the 1992, and the 1997 multiparty elections, in which more than 150 people lost their lives and others suffered injuries (Whitaker 2008). At the coast, many residents are landless and poor, which pushes the young people to form illegal terror groups with the supports of the Coast politicians. The MRC group has the support of the powerful politicians, who are its main funders. According to reports from the security department, the MRC youths engage in various criminal activities and collaborate with the terrorists to cause harm to the Kenyans (Whitaker 2008). During the Mpeketoni attack, the president of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta accused politicians of facilitated the attack and discredited the claims by the Al-Shabaab group, who had claimed the responsibility (KENYA: Grenade Attacks 2012). Similarly, during the welcoming rally of the Orange Democratic Movement Party leader Raila Odinga, the politicians accused the government of killing Kenyans through terrorism as KENYA: Deadly Attacks (2014) notes. The scenario fuelled more terror attacks in the subsequent months, especially the quarry attacks. There is an association of the North Eastern politicians with most of the violence that occurs in the region, although most of them deny of having any information.

Other causes

The other causes of terror attacks are the unstable neighbors, such as the Somalis, of which majority refugees in Kenya are (Mogire & Agade 2011). The unsecure Somali border allows free entry of the terrorists to the Kenyan soil while other terrorists enter as refugees only to cause harm on the innocent Kenyans. According to Henneke (2007), the other cause of the attacks is the proof that the Somali militia is still strong. For a number of years, the group appeared weak because of the internal divisions and their leader Godane’s aim is to show the world that the group is alive and powerful. The other cause may be the geographical location of Kenya, which borders the Somali and the Indian Ocean as highlighted by Sloan (2007). The two are good entry points for terrorists into the country with no suspicion. Corruption also facilitates terrorism as most of the terrorists get assistance to get into Kenya from the Kenyans after parting with a few notes (Sloan (2007). Some of the vehicles intercepted carrying explosives and the houses that the terrorist rented during the planning of attacks belonged to the Kenyans (Sloan 2007). The others are poverty and ethnic composition, where some communities facilitate the entry of terrorists, and others take bribes to allow terrorists into the country (Sloan2007). Kenya’s close relationship with Israel and the US are some of the causes of terrorism, as in the case of the US embassy bombing and the Israel hotel attack as (2007) asserts.

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