The Kenya National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC)’s zero draft strategy on the fight against terrorism in the country has gone through its final review, setting the stage for its final amendment and consequent launch later this year.
The document that was presented to religious leaders, community leaders, youth leaders, civil society groups, government agencies, the media, and other stakeholders highlights a change in shift in government’s fight against terror in the country, with the inputs of the groups involved largely informing the focus points that will be relied on to fight terrorism and violent extremism in the country.
At the moment, Kenya is trying to shrink the pools of recruitment within communities, following a shift of radicalisation from physical to online spaces.
The strategy that adopts a “do no harm approach” to the fight against the vice will seek to enhance community resilience, inclusivity, and capacity to handle threats, both physical and online, in efforts to suppress the factors creating a conducive environment for terrorism and violent extremism.
While it may sometimes look like the threat is not active because of a lot of work in the background, NCTC Director Rosalind Nyawira said Kenyans have to remain vigilant as the perpetrators of past attacks remain active.
“Our work is to interact with the communities and educate them on the threat of terrorism, create resilience within communities, caregivers, the youth, and have communities take up securing themselves as part of the ordinary business that they do so that we can win this war against terrorism and violent extremism,” she said.
She added that some of the perpetrators have since returned to the combat theatres, others died there while others are still there, hence the need for continued vigilance.
The strategy is informed by the changing nature of terrorism and violent extremism including geo-politics that are coming into play.
Source: By Mary Wambui, Eastleigh Voice
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