Lamu CVE Dialogue Forum Final Report
CONFERENCE REPORT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Lamu County CVE Action Plan Dialogue Forum was held in Lamu from 15th – 16th May 2018 bringing together 120 participants drawn from different organizations, the community and the county and national government. The objective of the forum was to conduct conversations around Lamu County Action Plan for Countering Violent Extremism (LCAPCVE) to understand the strategy developed and adopted a year ago and conduct mapping of stakeholders engaged and committed to the plan’s implementation. The forum also sought to adopt an all-inclusive approach to the problem of radicalization and violent extremism in Lamu County in alignment with the United Nation’s goals on CVE as well as the nine (9) pillars of the National Strategy to Counter Violent Extremism (NSCVE). The Lamu CVE plan identifies all the stakeholders who must contribute to its successful implementation.
In the course of the discussion, participants were taken through the development process and status of the Action Plan with specific reference to the key strategic issues important for understanding Lamu ecosystem for effective implementation of the plan. The identified strategic issues were Ideology, Awareness on CVE issues amongst stakeholders, the sense of victimhood among the indigenous communities of Lamu, land and historical injustices, political and structural challenges, Social and educational weaknesses and economic hardships. Other strategic issues include the abuse of technology such as Facebook, tweeter and WhatsApp and historical linkages to gulf countries like Yemen. Throughout the field work and plan development stages, the fear factor has been identified as hampering cooperation between security personnel and the general public. Importantly, it emerged that the police-community relation is rather sore and weak. It also emerged that land use planning is essential to stem further estrangement of the Lamu people as the scramble for land continues amidst mega government projects. The geographical location of Lamu makes it vulnerable to access by radicals from Somalia and also because it is a transit point for those wishing to travel to Somalia.