KILIFI COUNTY ACTION PLAN FOR PREVENTING AND COUNTERING VIOLENT EXTREMISM
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Kilifi County is one of the six counties in Coast region. The county lies between latitude 20 and 40 South, and between longitude 39.05 and 400.14 East. It borders Kwale County to the South West, Taita Taveta County to the West, Tana River County to the North, Mombasa County to the South and Indian Ocean to the East. The county covers an area of 12,609.7Km2 . It has nine administrative sub-counties namely; Chonyi, Kilifi south, Kilifi north, Ganze, Malindi, Magarini, Kaloleni and Rabai. It is sub-divided into seven Political Constituencies namely Kilifi North, Kilifi South, Ganze, Malindi, Magarini, Kaloleni and Rabai.
The development of the County Action Plan to Prevent and Counter Violent Extremism in Kilifi County follows guidelines the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) has developed. This section of the County Action Plan (CAP) borrows from the Kilifi County Integrated Development Plan (CIDP) for 2018-2022. It also borrows the changing violent extremism (VE) context, lessons learned, challenges and mitigation measures documented during the implementation of the first Kilifi CAP that was launched in 2018. It is also informed by the current ongoing PCVE initiatives by state and non-state stakeholders in Kilifi county. The CAP will offer Kilifi County’s stakeholders an immediate action plan to protect communities and citizens from violent extremism. The development of the plan has included national government officials under the County Commissioner, County government officials under the Governor, NGOs/FBOs/youth. Women groups and other interest groups with the interest and aptitude in working in CVE, and those with unique contributions to make on building resilience, citizens and community leaders. The process has produced a CAP that is aligned to the national strategy, with a small number of priorities, and whose implementation is coordinated and monitored by a County CVE Forum.
Factors that may lead to Violent Extremism in Kilifi County
There is no single driver or linear path to radicalization, violent extremism and terrorism. Research has shown that worldwide, including in Kilifi county, unresolved conflicts (including historical grievances), dehumanization of victims of terrorism (including ethnic, racial and religious profiling), absence of the rule of law, violation of human rights, ethnic, national and religious discrimination, political exclusion, socioeconomic marginalization and lack of good governance nurture radicalization.
This conditions that predispose vulnerable groups to radicalization, still obtain in Kilifi county in one form or another. For example, the legacy of unresolved confiicts, especially land conflicts that have bred an ideology regarding natural resource management, continues to be a key “push” driver of radicalization in Kilifi. During stakeholders’ consultations on remodelling the CAP, it was confirmed that the youth hold the view that elders, who are the main custodian of land, are irresponsible in managing the land. The elders were accused of not involving the youth and the community in access and control of land in the community. This has led to an inter-generational conflict pitting the youth with the elderly (greyed hair). The conflict has led to killing of the elderly on account of witchcraft, with the real motive being land. This is a driver of radicalization in the county that needs to be addressed as well.
Closely related to the inter-generational conflict around land is the Mombasa Republican Council (MRC) question. MRC is believed to have footprints and support in Kilifi county. The secessionist group, with its slogan “Pwani si Kenya” i.e. the coastal region is not part of Kenya, has been exploiting the land grievance in Kilifi to drive a wedge between the residents, authorities and those labelled “immigrants” or upcountry people. With elections in the horizon, it is feared that MRC may step up its activities, in the process inviting al Shabaab to join its cause. A study conducted by Search for Common Ground in 2017 found a nexus between local criminal groups and terrorist groups such as al Shabaab. This is why MRC is an issue that the CAP, and PCVE stakeholders in general, should not sweep under the rags.
Youth unemployment and underemployment has been a key driver of ideological radicalization in Kilifi. Youth complain that nepotism is rife within the public and private sector. This has denied many educated and deserving cases a chance to get employed. However, the stakeholder’s consultations, while agreeing to this allegation, noted that youths complain of being unemployed because they believe in white colour jobs. It was observed that the young people don’t want to venture into self-employment despite of the high illiteracy rates that locks many to the desired white collar jobs.
The COVID-19 pandemic has worsened the unemployment problem in Kilifi county. While the county’s tourism sector was slowly recovering from the effects of travel advisories issued by foreign governments to its national in the wake of sustained al Shabaab attacks in the coastal region, the pandemic hurt. Social distancing and ban on in-person events – measures to stem the spread of the virus, led to closure of hotels, disruption of public transport and prolonged closure of learning institutions.
This led to loss of employment and livelihoods. Many youths were rendered idle. Most of the engagements were shifted to the online space, further increasing the risk of online radicalization and recruitment.
Youths and other vulnerable groups in Kilifi are exposed to ideas and narratives that legitimize radicalization and glorify its appeal. Kilifi’s proximity to rogue preachers in neighbouring counties and Somali through Lamu/Tana River and Garissa/Tana River corridors is another “pull” driver of radicalization. During stakeholder consultations, Malindi and Mtwapa were identified as some of the areas where radical preachers from neighbouring counties and countries are radicalizing the
young people.