Stakeholders during a quarterly County Engagement Forum at Jacaranda Hotel in Kwale County
BY SHABAN OMAR
Concerns have been raised about the increasing use of technology by violent extremist recruiters to target and recruit youth along the coastal region.
Reports indicate that extremists are exploiting the vulnerabilities of young people, particularly women, by using social media platforms to lure them with deceptive promises of employment opportunities as a means of recruitment.
Mwanaharusi Ali, Program Officer at the Coast Interfaith Council of Clerics Trust, said that young girls are often enticed through social media, where they are promised lucrative job opportunities abroad.
She said the promises are part of a broader scheme to exploit and radicalize vulnerable individuals.
However, the young people end up being forcefully recruited into criminal activities and, in some cases, become wives of the recruiters.
“We have observed that internet and social media platforms are being used as tools for recruitment and radicalization, particularly targeting desperate young people,” said Ali.
She further urged all stakeholders to take an active role in efforts to counter violent extremism.
Coast Interfaith Council of Clerics Trust Program Officer Mwanaharusi Ali
Ali stressed that combating crime and violent extremism cannot fall solely on the shoulders of one entity; rather, it requires a collaborative and collective approach from all sectors of society.
She made the remarks during an interview at the Quarterly County Engagement Forum held in Diani, Kwale County.
The meeting brought together members of the County Engagement Forum (CEF), senior representatives from the county government, members of the County Assembly of Kwale, and civil society representatives.
The forum was organized by the Human Development Agenda, with support from Mercy Corps, the Kenya School of Government, and the Centre for Human Rights and Policy Studies, under the USAID Sauti program.
The “Sauti Yako, Amani Yako” program, funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), aims to strengthen locally-driven resilience against violent extremism in targeted communities.
The program seeks to establish an inclusive, responsive, and self-sustaining system for preventing and countering violent extremism in Kenya.
According to Mariam Omar, the HUDA CEF focal point person for the Law Enforcement Pillar, the consultative forum aims to assess the status and progress of the implementation of the Kwale County Action Plan (CAP).
It also seeks to evaluate the challenges and opportunities for integrating Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism (PCVE) responses into the County’s Annual Plans.
She added that the forum was also intended to explore the role of the CEF and identify opportunities for expanding its membership to enhance sustainability.
Human Development Agenda CEF focal point person for the Law Enforcement Pillar Mariam Omar
Omar also urged communities to actively support government and NGO initiatives in the fight against crime and violent extremism.
“The government and NGOs are making significant efforts to address the issue of crime, which is why we are calling on people to take ownership of these programs,” she emphasized.
Kwale County Kaya Elders Committee Secretary, Salim Mwasabu, urged parents to play an active role in instilling good values in their children.
He said that inadequate parental guidance is one of the key contributors to crime and violent extremism.
Mwasabu also said that while unemployment is often blamed for crime, many of those involved in criminal activities are young people under the age of 18.
A section of CEF members at Jacaranda Hotel in Kwale County
“It is also about poor parenting, because what is a 10-year-old doing in crime? Can we really say it’s about unemployment?” he asked.
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