IIhan Omar: How Africa can defeat violent extremism

WASHINGTON - US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar believes that Africa needs a Marshall plan to tackle some of the challenges facing her including but not limited to violent extremism, noting that homegrown solutions are critical in dealing with some of these shortcomings.

In her recent opinion, Ms. Omar who was born in Somalia and partially raised in Somalia insists that African governments and the people should invest more in supporting democratic institutions besides cherishing accountability for the sake of transparency.

By appreciating openness in handling human rights violations, she said, the continent will effectively deal with violent extremism which has significantly impaired progress in various countries within Africa, particularly her native Somalia.

"So in terms of narrow counter-terrorism policy, support for governments, militaries, and police that violate human rights – rather than local civil society – is self-defeating," she noted. "Only support for democratic institution building and accountability for human rights violations can remove the root causes of extremism."

Africa's democracy has been challenged for decades with Ms. Omar now saying democratic dispensationalism will pave way for a more open society that would discourage many young people from joining some of the groups such as Al-Shabaab and Boko Haram which are causing havoc in the continent.

"Our engagement should instead be guided by stalwart respect for democracy and human rights," said Ms. Omar, who is seeking her third term next month as Congresswoman for Minnesota 5th District.

"A landmark study by the UN development program in 2017 shows that people who join violent extremist groups throughout the continent – from al-Shabaab to Boko Haram – are generally from geographically isolated and socially marginalized groups, and most name the precipitating event before joining one of these groups to be a low-level human rights violation."

The congresswoman also discourages Africa from focusing in the far East on matters of social-economic transformation of the continent, arguing that America offers greater opportunities than China and Russia. The two nations have been investing massively in Africa both economically and militarily.

"But great power competition with Russia and China alone cannot and should not be our guiding principle when it comes to formulating our Africa policy. Both echo colonial relationships that we should be taking great pains not to continue or re-create."

Her native Somalia has been battling Al-Shabaab militants for over a decade and the group still controls huge swathes of rural central and southern Somalia. The United States has been a close partner of the country and has since invested in training and equipping the Danab Special forces.

GAROWE ONLINE