Retreat seeks an end to youth radicalisation

By Stephen Makabila                            

Mombasa, Kenya: Muslim political and religious leaders are now seeking an ‘ideological solution’ to radicalisation of youths in an attempt to sustain religious harmony.

Already, the National Steering Committee on Media Monitoring chairperson Mary Ombara has raised an alarm over increased religious hate messages in the social media.

About 100 selected leaders from the Muslim faith, among them MPs, Senators, Imams and elites are scheduled to attend a three day retreat in Naivasha to soul-search on the root cause of radicalisation of their youth, and come up with solutions.

The retreat, scheduled for next weekend, also comes at a time the Government’s ‘Operation Usalama’ targeting terror suspects and illegal immigrants has been stepped up amid an outcry from some Muslim leaders who have alleged harassment of their community. Religious leaders from mainstream churches have already met and taken their position on the security operation and other issues of national importance.

“The retreat has been scheduled for next weekend after consultations with Parliamentary Majority leader Aden Duale, who is a senior member of the Muslim community in government,” said Mr Fazul Mohamed, the chairman of the Association of Muslim Organisations in Kenya (AMOK).

The decision to  have the Naivasha retreat rescheduled was also made after the organisers held a meeting with Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph ole Lenku at his Harambee House office.

Radicalisation of Muslim youths has especially been pronounced in Mombasa and other coastal towns.

Fazul who is the convenor of the Naivasha retreat which targets to stem religious hetrade, said 69 MPs from the Muslim community and 31 religious leaders have been invited to attend the closed-door retreat.

Apart from AMOK, other organisations involved in the retreat include Supkem, Council of Imams and Preachers of Kenya, and Kenya Muslim National Advisory Council.

Ideological approach

“The retreat has been organised out of the realisation that we cannot solve an ideological problem with physical engagement. This problem requires an ideological approach and that is why we have a multi-faceted meeting to explore all avenues of countering this problem,” Fazul told The Standard on Sunday.

According to the planned retreat’s tentative programme seen by The Standard on Sunday, Supkem Organising Secretary Sharriff Hussein will be one of the first speakers, while adoption of the Agenda will be chaired by nominated MP Hassan Osman.

An Imam, Sheikh Ahmed Uthman, will take the meeting through a Paper titled Radicalization: Quran perspective to this question.

Lagdera MP Mohamed Shidiye, the secretary of the retreat, will later present a paper on Policing: Community role in arresting  radicalisation.

The first day will then be concluded with MP Omar Mwinyi leading discussions and Mandera Senator Kerrow Billow handling groups presentations.

Come the second day, MP Aden Keynan will be the rapporteur in a discussion titled Complementing government  efforts  in combating  radicalization: Communities’ role.

Sheikh Juma Ngao of Kenya Muslim National Advisory Council will then preside over another session titled Prevention of ethinc profiling and harassment by government: Role of leaders.

The last major discussion on Day Two will be chaired by Kerrow, titled Long term strategic plan in  combating  radicalisation: Proposed  structure and institutional  strategy.

The final day will see the development of the communique and later a round table talks with ole Lenku and his team before a joint media briefing with Government representatives.

Fazul noted among the questions the retreat will be seeking to answer include why radicalisation now and its root cause and the role the ordinary Muslim community members should play in the de-radicalisation process, and the role of religious leaders in de-radicalisation.

“We want to interrogate whether radicalisation is grounded in Islamic doctrine and the role of the elected Muslim political leaders, and the elites in de-radicalising our youths,” added Fazul.

The Standard on Sunday established that a crucial demand  the Muslim leaders may put to the Jubilee Government after the coming Naivasha retreat will be the need for creation of a full department for religious affairs anchored in the Constitution, which should have a robust inter-religious council to improve relations between Kenyan Muslims, Christians, Hindus and members of other faiths.