Sinay community battles to conquer Covid-19 misinformation

It was early morning on February 19, 2020 and a group of border community from Sinay border post in Kenya were preparing to do business with their Somalia counterparts from Kolbiyo.

Other community members were preparing to herd their livestock across the border and return to the Kenyan side of the border before dusk.

Normally, communities residing on both sides of the Kenya –Somalia border share the same culture, language and clan lineage and they are divided by an international border.

However, the Somali community residing on the Kenyan side of the border are more worried about activities, incursion and attacks from al Shabaab operating along the unmanned porous border separating the two countries.

"Apart from the international border separating us, al Shabaab activities and operations separate the two Somali communities in both Kenya and the Somali side of the border,’’ stated Abdi Shukri, a member of the local traditional system.

According to local elders, the terrorist group invested in recruiting and training local youths from the Kenyan side of the border and deploying them to their area of origin to undertake the group mission.

"They recruited youths from various villages along the border and they are the ones holding brief on behalf of the terrorist group," disclosed Abdi Shukri.

The locally trained youths formed and operated al Shabaab cells in various border towns and they played a key role in spreading misinformation and propaganda on Covid-19 before even the first case was reported in both Kenya and Somalia.

According to the local community, a group of al Shabaab youths stormed their village in the morning and they preached about Covid-19 for two hours and ordered the community to reject any medical intervention from Kenyan health authorities.

They used loud speakers and informed the community that coronavirus was developed in a Chinese lab and it was a combined job of the Chinese and Western Intelligence agencies to eliminate Muslims and spread the virus in Muslim dominated countries.

They showed the community a propaganda video showing bodies piling up in a Chinese hospital and the Chinese premier apologising to the Muslim community over the development of the virus which leaked from the lab and caused havoc in China and other part of the world.

The video was broadcast in Somali language an indication it was made by the al Shabaab media unit for purposes of spreading fear and fake news regarding Covid-19.

The group played the video through their smart phone and connected it to a portable speaker which can reach 100 people.

"The al Shabaab fighters ordered us to pray and go about our business as Western and Chinese plot to eliminate Muslims has flopped," disclosed Aydrus Bishar, an elder residing in Sinay border post.

In the fake video broadcast, the group informed the community of plans by Kenyan health authorities to wage fake Covid-19 education and interventions in border areas, adding they should reject such activities as they were meant to inject the community with suspicious vaccines which will cause sterilization and interfere with  D.N.A.

 "They told us Kenyan government want to take advantage of Covid-19 and undertaking some health campaigns in border areas like vaccination from other diseases and general education. They wanted us to oppose the move and give them information of such health personnel so as they can attack them," intimated Noor Kassim, a resident of Hulugho border post in Kenya.

After the video campaign, the local community got a different Covid-19 update and information from Kenyan health authorities through local radio.

By the end of February 2020, Kenyan health authorities had strengthened their Covid-19 updates though no case was reported by then.

The Kenyan program centered on Covid-19 events and the spread in China and reported cases in neighbouring countries.

The radio update brought international experts' views on coronavirus to local communities in Kenya and also offered tips on how to control and prevent the spread of the virus.

"By end of February, 2020, we got new updates from local Kenyan Somali F.M stations and they offered us knowledge, information and the spread of Covid-19 around the world. It was different from the message and information we got from Al Shabaab video in Sinay village," stated Batula Abdirahman, who resides in outskirt of Sinay village in Kenya-Somalia border.

Kenyan radio programs on Covid-19 saved Kenyan health personnel from terrorist attacks and road side bombing incident as the terrorist group was determined to deal with any health officials visiting the border areas for covid-19 education or outreaches.

"By February and March no Kenyan health official visited our border village and the Al-Shabaab were inquiring on daily basis if any health officials plan to visit us," disclosed Alinoor Boray , a community youth leader in Sinay border village.

Before emergence of Covid-19, Garissa County in northern Kenya faced unprecedented health crisis as many dispensaries and health centres were closed due to attacks by Al-Shabaab group and targeting of non-local health personnel operating in such facilities.

‘’ Even before Covid-19, number of health centres and dispensaries were closed in Kenya-Somalia border areas and health personnel were evacuated and deployed in other part of Kenya. So we had a shambolic health system caused by al Shabaab even before emergence of covid-19. It’s a double edged health crisis," explained Khalif Hussein, a member of Garissa human Rights Network.

However on early March 2020, al Shabaab activities in the border villages increased and new faces which was not part of the normal Al-Shabaab youths based in the border areas , visited the villages with view of ensuring the communities follows the groups guideline of addressing Covid-19.

Local elders later established the new al Shabaab men were from Al-Shabaab intelligence, Al-Aminiyat and they were to reinforce the work of the Islamist fighters cum preachers were permanently stationed along the Kenya-Somalia border.

The new unit collected information from locals and also inquired the identity of people coming to the border towns from Garissa town.

"The new al Shabaab team were more intelligent and suave than the normal group fighters who were stationed in border areas. They collected names of Somali families and profiled them against their clan names and ensured they know everybody's background, history, relatives and work,’’ disclosed Gurey Abshir, who resides in the outskirts of Hulugho border post.

The new al Shabaab team from Al-Aminiyat security agency forced the community to listen to radio Andalus, which is owned by al Shabaab and reaches some border towns.

Other radio programs from the Islamist radio were recorded and played to group of community members with others charged with the mission of disseminating the radio programs to herders at grazing areas and watering points.

"I was picked by the group to take the recorded message to herders and traders plying between two border towns. To ensure the message reaches its intended target, the group planted moles to report to them on daily progress of the recorded radio listening programs," remembers Gelmal Aress,  a teenager based in Sinay area.

The young teenager realized the presence of the al-Aminiyat spies in grazing fields and watering points when he shortened the recorded radio listening session by one hour and decided to turn back to his village which was located between Hulugho and Sinay border towns.

"I was tired of the al Shabaab assignment and decided to cut short the recorded Andalus radio program by one hour. After two days the new al Shabaab group picked me from my homestead and I was beaten and given a last warning that I will lose my life and my family members will be wiped out. One of them told me we have our people in the watering point and grazing areas," disclosed a visibly shaken Gelmal Aress.

After the ordeal, a distraught Gelmal Aress managed to escape and trekked for five days before reaching Fafi border outpost where he sought support to travel to main Garissa town.

"I managed to escape and I know al Shabaab will not harm my family members in the border town due to the influence our clan holds in the area. I know they are looking for me," disclosed Gelmal Aress from his Garissa town hideout.

According to local communities the presence of Kenyan security forces that are stationed in Amuma and Hulugho doesn’t deter the Islamists as they have invested in the community through recruitment, radicalization and empowering trained local youths to establish al Shabaab cells in their areas.

"Al Shabaab has an upper hand in the border region because of their local investment and establishment of cells headed by locals. Nobody wants to report their activities to the two main Kenyan military bases in Hulugho and Amuma," stated Mooge Garad, who relocated to Nunow village from Sinay border post.

The Andalus radio programs broadcast various programs like the spread of the virus to European countries and the United States and also fake information that European leaders have apologized to Muslims communities over their role in financing the development of the corona virus which was meant to cleanse Muslims from the earth.

The recorded radio program broadcast fake information that any health intervention by Kenyan health authority on Kenya-Somalia border areas are meant to profile local communities and their locations and tag or feed the information to a satellite which will make it easy for Kenyan security services and their Western counterparts in undertaking drone operations and also conduct aerial surveillance on some individuals living in the border town and suspected of working with al Shabaab.

The Al-Aminiyat group on the Kenya-Somalia border area used WhatsApp to spread fake videos and pictures to communities living in areas close to the Somali side of the border with mobile telephone network.

Normally, Kenyan border residents prefer to use mobile telephone services from Somalia as it offers cheap calling rates, has strong network and gives affordable data bundles.

Majority of the Kenya-Somalia border residents rely on Mobile telephone services provided by Somalia-based Hormuud Telecom Company and that gives the terrorists an upper hand in spreading their fake information through a Somali-based telecom to Kenyan audiences at the border.

One of the WhatsApp video circulated to the border community shows a fake video of 2,000 people who died inside an American church due to Covid-19 and the intention of the misinformation was to show the locals the virus meant to wipe Muslims is cleansing American enmasse.

"Covid-19 was a perfect opportunity for al Shabaab as they took advantage of the community fear of the virus to spread fake news and brainwash locals through fake videos and pictures produced by their misinformation lab," disclosed Asha Abdi, head of violent extremism program at Garissa-based Hornafric consultancy.

Other channels used to spread fake misinformation are Facebook which the group used to target Somali youths in Kenya, Somalia and diaspora.