Ngala Chome
This paper examines the impacts of the development of formal border crossings on the economy of borderlands, especially in remote, rural areas of Africa, where local people’s livelihoods often depend on informal cross-border trade and exchange. The study focuses on Mandera County, which sits at the centre of the Mandera Triangle – the cross-border area between Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia – and explores the implications of potential developments to establish new formal crossing points from Kenya into Ethiopia and Somalia. The review collates and analyses experiences from across Southern, West and East Africa, and the Horn of Africa (HoA), in order to reflect on the current situation in Mandera County. Kenya’s border with Somalia remains officially closed, and insecurity in the area has resulted in the official relocation of the Kenya Immigration Department from Mandera to Wajir.
The paper draws on the latest cross-border developments in the area, a synthesis of the literature, and 10 key informant interviews with NGO representatives, local business people and journalists working in Mandera County. It proposes a series of recommendations to help ensure any changes in border infrastructure in Mandera will have a positive impact on the lives and livelihoods of local residents. Specifically, the review investigates the impacts of expanding the capacity of existing formal border crossings or introducing new formal border-crossing points on the livelihoods of local people, cross-border movements, trade and local markets and security in Mandera. How will these impacts affect different stakeholders? How will these be moderated by such factors as physical infrastructure development, investments in staff capacity and procedural innovation at border crossings?
Key Findings
Informality and procedural innovation are vital to borderland livelihoods
Despite the ratification of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), aimed at addressing the challenges of Cross-Border Trade (CBT), and the signing of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) draft regional policy framework on Informal Cross-Border Trade (ICBT) and Cross-Border Security Governance (CBSG), much cross-border life in Mandera continues to be conducted through informal, often unsanctioned local conventions. A Petty Periphery Trade Initiative launched by the Ethiopian government in 1994, and which specifies the goods that can be traded duty-free, the maximum monthly value of imported and exported goods, and the number of times a trader is allowed entry into either Kenya, Somalia, Somaliland and/or Djibouti, has been revised only once (OSSREA, 2020). Most local traders seem unaware of the existence of such regulations. Generally, much CBT and other cross-border agreements regarding the sharing of natural (water and pasture) and social (such as educational and health facilities) resources, including joint vaccination of livestock and measures to tame cross-border clan conflict, depend on procedural innovation and informal ‘pacts’ unsanctioned by national or regional governments.
These adaptive and flexible local strategies are often developed and agreed upon by various local actors namely clan elders, businesspeople, local administrators and politicians, the police and border guards. However, it is important to note that residents of Mandera and elsewhere often take advantage of some of these local conventions, especially regarding free cross-border movement, for
subversive ends. The evidence shows that local residents often assist migrants to cross the border illegally, especially at the Moyale and Busia One-Stop Border Posts (OSBPs); or help truckers avoid taxation by off-loading large quantities of goods, which are then repackaged into smaller quantities for residents to ferry them across.
Borderland livelihoods are shaped by the actions of multiple actors
Borders are not mere markers of the end of state sovereignty, and the beginning of a break between two countries. Instead, the existence of a border gives rise to a variety of roles: those of border guards, cross-border traders, brokers, smugglers, immigration and customs officials. These actors create relationships that organise local power structures and modes of governance that may be largely independent of national government control, sometimes operating in collaboration, sometimes in competition with the national government’s officers. Local residents, in particular, take advantage of their knowledge of the area to either help or undercut official authority.
In Mandera, the activities of businesspeople, local politicians, violent extremists, clan militia, livestock marketing agents (known as Dilaal in Somalia and Kenya, Dalala in Ethiopia), community members, clan elders, national and county government administrators, border guards and the police all influence local livelihoods and the outcomes of cross-border relationships. It is these actors who have entered into multiple cross-border alliances, some established to create a suitable environment for ICBT, some for the peaceful sharing of grazing areas, some for the use of common water resources such as the River Daua.
A culture of corruption, intimidation and violence often persists at border crossings
Formal border crossings are meant to stop the common tradition of unofficial land crossings, which are usually associated with corruption, intimidation and violence. They also aim to boost CBT, formalise ICBT (including contraband trade), increase revenue collection and curb irregular migration. A review of experiences from a diverse set of borderland regions in Africa where formal border crossings have been introduced suggests that this is not always the case.
In Mandera, where no official border crossing currently exists, respondents reported various acts of corruption, bribery, intimidation and violence, carried out especially by border guards on the Kenya– Ethiopia border – at Malkamari and Rhamu on the Kenyan side, and Suftu town on the Ethiopian side. On the Kenya–Somalia border at Bulla Hawa, officers of the Kenya police and the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) are allegedly seeking out bribes from cross-border traders and other border- crossers at what is an officially closed border by erecting roadblocks at back roads. There were also allegations of threats of violence, and forcible seizures or burning of cross-border goods after failure to pay bribes.
The situation in Mandera compares to that of Moyale, where an OSBP – funded by the African Development Bank and the UK government – was opened in December 2020. Officials at Moyale continue to be concerned by a significant level of ICBT at unofficial border crossings, where Ethiopian authorities are known to “collect revenue”. This is in addition to the continuation of irregular migration and trade in illicit goods (especially marijuana). Cases of threats of violence, intimidation and corruption, such as those that occur in Mandera, have also been reported at Moyale and at other points with OSBPs, such as Busia.
Recommendations
1) The introduction of formal border crossings, or any improvement of the border infrastructure in Mandera must be sensitive to the local context, locally applied conventions and adaptive strategies
Border management authorities (at the national and county levels) and representatives should appreciate and account for the transit needs of communities in Mandera (and cross- border communities in Bulla Hawa) vis-à-vis trade and access to goods and services in the conception or improvement of border infrastructure. This could be in the form of introducing trade licences for specific types and amounts of goods, and the formalisation of trade and peace pacts among various local actors, such as local government, businesspeople, clan elders, traders, and others.
2) The involvement of local actors in the introduction of formal border crossings, or in the improvement of other aspects of border infrastructure is critical
Whereas border management is within the remit of national governments, civil society and county government representatives must promote and advocate for the active involvement of and consultation with local communities, especially clan elders, women and youth committee representatives. This could be done through the establishment of standardised consultation processes between local communities, a Border Management Committee (chaired by the County Commissioner) and county- and national-level border security and management agencies (such as Kenya’s Border Management Secretariat).
3) There is a need to raise awareness on national ethics and anti-corruption policy and human rights-based approaches among border officials
Donor agencies and civil society actors working in Mandera should channel their efforts into widespread awareness-raising campaigns on anti-corruption and training on rights-based policing. In addition, engagement and specific deliberations should be undertaken with the anti-corruption commissions of the respective regional governments (Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia), which can be achieved under the auspices of IGAD. Efforts to bridge the gap between local community representatives and border management officials (particularly at the county level and those belonging to the police, military, special forces and other designations) should also be undertaken by civil society and government representatives in the form of regular dialogue and consultation.
4) Support for both formal and informal cross-border trade must be bolstered in line with IGAD’s policy framework on Informal Cross Border Trade (ICBT) and Cross Border Security Governance (CBSG), which promotes, among other things, strengthening border security systems and supporting trade facilitation at border-crossing points
In the Mandera context, working for the uptake and implementation of the ICBT–CBSG policy framework is particularly crucial given the fragile security context and the high dependence of local communities on ICBT. As such, government, civil society, donors and other stakeholders must coordinate efforts to support context-specific and gender-sensitive livelihood strategies, all the while promoting community involvement in border management strategies and plans. Consideration should also be given – by the Kenya Revenue Authority and the Commissioner of Customs and Border Control – to the development of a Cross Border Trade Charter and other tools, such as Simplified Certificates of Origin, for goods allowed in untaxed for local cross-border trade.
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