Religious leaders from North eastern Kenya ask government to help them fight religious extremism

Religious leaders from Garissa County have on Sunday urged the government to help them in fight against radicalisation of youth into acts of violent extremism.

 Speaking after a consultative meeting on how to address extremist ideology taking root among the youth in the county, the leaders at the same time called on the government to issue Identity Cards to thousands of youth in the county as one way of making them engaged in meaningful activities that will in turn prevent them from joining terror group out of desperation.

 "Thousands of our youth are unable to get IDs, which would have made them continue with their education or employed, the lack of this document is influencing their option into terror recruitment, which doesn't require Id to be "hired", they resolved.

Child soldiers in Africa. The lack of Kenyan IDs to support education and formal employment leads youth into easier options like radicalisation and terrorism, according to the religious leaders. (PHOTO: COURTESY)

 Addressing journalists on behalf of the religious leaders, Sheikh Abdisalam Mohamed said security agents in the county should fully cooperate with the members of the public to overcome the security challenge that has been posed by terrorists and their agents in the country.

 "As religious leaders we fully support any government efforts that will ensure the safety of every Kenyan, we also support the government de-radicalisation initiatives of our youth who may possibly fall prey to terrorists’ ideologies and we want the government to partner with religious leaders in this process," he said.

 The Religious leaders have at the same time appealed to the Government to help solve perennial clan disputes between two warring clans in Garissa County who are engaged in a border dispute between Dadaab and Balambala Sub-counties, which has so far left scores of people dead in last few months from both sides.

"We urge the government to end this dispute amicably and immediately by enforcing clear demarcation where the border of the two sub-counties lies. As long as this matter is not intervened by the relevant state agents, the two communities are likely to kill one another for nothing,” Sheikh Mohamed said.

 He added, "The government should with immediate effect clarify boundaries between the two sub-counties and mobbing up the area in a bid to flush out illegal firearms that are being used at the time of conflicts."

 The leaders at the same time condemned the surging cases of unexplained kidnappings and extrajudicial killings of people from the North-eastern region, noting that people largely blamed the government on the matter, which could go against the deradicalisation program.

 Meanwhile, the religious leaders promised to set up a 5 member committee which will be tasked with bringing together the local rival politicians, from the County whose their differences are said to be contributing into animosity between peace loving communities in the county.

 "As religious leaders in this County we will form a committee that will be tasked with reconciling political leaders from the area who have not been seeing issues eye to eye so that our people can live peacefully," said sheikh Mohamed.

 The religious leaders further demanded the government to show it resilience to terror threats by reopening the closed ill-feted Garissa University College and Kenya Medical training college so that the children from the region, who benefited from the colleges don't suffer.

"If the government can re-open West gate shopping mall, why can’t it reopen our education institutions in Garissa?" They asked.

In a meeting whose theme was Enhancing Unity, Peace and Community which was also attended by more than one hundred clerics and organised by the county government also, made an appeal to the government to address the prevailing lack of teachers in the region by supporting the recruitment and training of local teachers.

"We also commend the government in its campaign against alcohol because it's the mother of all sins and we would like to urge the relevant agencies to continue with the same spirit and extend with same zeal against other drugs such as Miraa and other drugs," said Sheikh Abdisalam.