Our plan to tackle terror, violence as elections draw near

Terrorism and violent extremism remain one of the threats that the country is facing as we head to the next General Election. It is a threat that the whole government machinery is aware of, and has taken significant steps to deal with, as we continue to do everything in our power to keep Kenyans safe.

With the Easter holidays here, and as political parties gear up for nominations, and step up their campaigns, the goal is to ensure that terrorists or their sympathisers do not take advantage of the huge gatherings to launch attacks.

We have emphasised that organisers of political rallies should work with the security agencies to ensure their meetings are secured. So far, we are happy that there has been no incident, and we take this as evidence that the close cooperation is bearing fruits and we urge all those involved to keep it up.

Perhaps the public may not be aware that there is a government-wide strategy to deal with violent extremism and counter the radicalisation that has so far pervaded some parts of the country. The President already launched the National Strategy to Counter Violent Extremism and now, all ministries and State departments have began implementing the strategy.

Just a fortnight ago, the Chief of Staff and Head of Public Service, Joseph Kinyua, chaired a meeting of over 25 ministries, departments and agencies. The aim of the meeting was to bring national MDAs to use their different mandates and capabilities to prevent and counter violent extremism as part of a cohesive national campaign for the sake of peace, development and national cohesion.

That step to have a cross-cutting multi-agency national campaign to prevent and counter violent extremism was taken because the government recognises that it is not enough to deal with the terrorism and violent extremism as a crime alone.

We already have the laws; we have streamlined the modus operandi of our security agencies; we have significantly increased the number of police officers and we have also given them hardware. The government is still committed to ensuring their housing and welfare is taken care of, but even as we deal with the nuts and bolts of policing and intelligence, we have to ensure that the terrorists and their recruiters have no space to operate in the country.

The government has therefore seen it as very prudent to initiate preventive, mitigation and rehabilitative measures to complement the ongoing counter-terrorism efforts. The different government agencies and departments will be organised in the following four clusters: a) Social Sector (education, health, cohesion, sports and culture; b) Employment and Livelihoods; c) Diversion, Rehabilitation and Reintegration; d) Regional and Global Partnerships.

It is about making sure that Kenyan youths do not see any incentive in joining the terror cells or engaging in violent extremism. It is about talking to those who may be tempted and countering the propaganda and extremist ideology with truth. It is about programmes to ensure that Kenyans build their country, and they are not confused by extremists to sabotage their own country.

The government is doing all this in order to protect our democracy, cohesion and development from the dangerous threats of ideologically-driven extremist radicalisation, recruitment and attack.

The National Counter Terrorism Centre will work with the different ministries, State Departments and agencies under the different clusters to articulate and launch action plans and initiatives that take advantage of existing mandates, priority areas and coordinated multi-agency efforts.

The government is aware of the national urgency of this initiative, and that is why the Chief of Staff and Head of Public Service gave notice to ministries, that what they do regarding countering this threat, will form part of their work.

There already are county-level programmes involving the State and non-State actors. We have seen county governments, the county commissioners, security agencies, non-governmental organizations, religious leaders, youth and women leaders, researchers and even the business community get together and implement progressive programmes.

Indeed, Kenya’s national effort to counter terrorism and violent extremism is increasingly demonstrating regional and global leadership in bringing together security and prevention solutions to this major global challenge.

We also welcome the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), who through Siddharth Chatterjee, the UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative, have an ongoing effort to deliver a UN Programme for the Prevention of Violent Extremism in Kenya under the Delivering As One (DaO) framework- part of a joint strategy with the government. The effort will design and deploy development, educational, livelihood development, public health, counter radicalisation, and juvenile crime prevention approaches to preventing violent extremism in all its forms and manifestations in the country.

As we keep on celebrating the victories of the Kenya Defence Forces in Somalia, and the sacrifices of our soldiers, let us do our best at home to keep the country safe. Eternal vigilance is a necessity in this changing world with the lurking threat of terror.

 Mr Kiraithe is the Government Spokesman