In early 1964, less than a month after independence, Kenya found itself in the midst of a civil war. Riots, attacks on police stations and killings quickly placed the Northern Frontier District (NFD) in a state of emergency as pre-existing conflicts intensified. Colonial-era British policy decisions played the largest role in dividing the country between the new Kenyan government and the Somalis of northern Kenya, who wished to join the Somali Republic. In an attempt to marginalize the secessionist movement, President Jomo Kenyatta coined the term shifta, or “bandit” in Oromo, to classify the military wing of the Northern Province People's Progressive Party (NPPPP) responsible for the anti-government raids. The stigma this has created has actually widened the gap between actual Kenyans and Kenyan Somalis, although only a portion of the latter have actually been involved in incidents of violence. Kenyan authorities responded to the Shifta's threats by forcing all Somalis in Kenya to abandon their lifestyle and assimilate into dominant traditions. In 1964, political, economic and social clashes between Shifta and Kenyans led to a four-year conflict that called into question the unity of the nation. Today in the Philippines, the Muslim minority residing in Mindanao is forming a similar secessionist movement. Their situation resembles that of Kenya in the pre-war period, but with proper governance, Filipinos and Muslims still have the possibility of peaceful coexistence. The deepest crack in Kenya's solidarity stemmed from political issues decades earlier. In the 1920s, the British prioritized their own goals over the fate of the natives, drawing arbitrary borders that ignored the widespread presence of ethnic groups as... middle of paper...war to prevent further conflict in their own country . In Kenya, the lack of political, economic and social integration of Somalis with Kenyans meant that the Shifta War was inevitable. Pan-Somali irredentism had arisen from political marginalization as early as 1920, when the British government administered the NFD as a unit in its own right but also as a completely separate region of Kenya. The economic disparities between pastoralism and agricultural practices have only accentuated this difference and have given rise to the discrimination propagated by the government against Somalis. In addition to secessionist aspirations, Kenya's united front façade has been demolished by ethno-religious differences. Perhaps, the suffering of an entire population in Kenya will force Philippine officials to adopt more peaceful measures and encourage ethnic integration in the ongoing conflict in Mindanao..