Monday, November 04, 2013
Corruption among security personnel and other government
agencies is to blame for increased terrorist threats in the country, an
intelligence report says.
The report says rampant corruption among
Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) and Immigration officials is being
exploited by terrorists to infiltrate the country and acquire vital
documents such as IDs and passports.
“Al-Shabaab is
also exploiting the inadequacy of security personnel along the border to
target security establishments with the aim of stealing arms and
carrying out kidnappings,” the report adds.
The study
by the National Intelligence Agency (NIS) also warns that continued
presence of Somali refugee camps is providing safe cover for terrorists
to enter, recruit, indoctrinate, train, harbour and move the operatives
to and from Somalia without detection by security agencies.
The
report notes that Al-Shabaab sympathisers in Kenya especially those who
lost trade opportunities following the intervention of the KDF in
Somalia have also been encouraging, protecting and concealing the
group’s activities and operatives.
The terrorists, says
the study, are also capitalising on the inadequacies in
counter-terrorism laws to further their activities in the country, hence
change of tactic in dealing with the terror group is necessary
including engagement of Muslim leaders, elders and Islamic scholars to
counter radicalisation and general growth of extremism in the country
and stabilisation of Somalia.
The report wants courts
to ensure that stringent conditions are put in place to ensure that
terror suspects are kept away from the society.
Intelligence
also warns that Al-Shabaab sympathisers have been propagating radical
jihad messages to unsuspecting students in several schools and colleges
in Nairobi, where those who agree to join the group are given
incentives.
They have also infiltrated mosques in
Busia, Kisii, Oyugis, Mumias, Kiambu and Migori, with the country having
over 300 Kenyans trained by Al-Shabaab currently in the country while
about 100 others enter the country through porous borders.
The
NIS report says most of the Kenyans in Al-Shabaab were recruited from
Majengo in Nairobi and its environs, Mombasa and North Eastern, with
several youths having been trained and fought for the terror group.
Poverty
in the country has also been cited as a contributing factor as jobless
youth are willing to join the group once given incentives.
It
notes that the Al Shabaab still control most of Central and Southern
Somalia from where they still plan to radicalize, train terrorist and
plan terrorist attacks.
“The long standing cordial
relations between Kenya and key Western nations mainly the US,UK and
Israel has made the country attractive to attacks from extremist groups
opposed to the nations’ heavy political and military involvement in the
Arab and Muslim world.
The report adds that the
continued radicalization of Kenya youth by some extremist Muslim clerics
has also been another major factor which has made it possible for them
to be recruited and then taken to Somalia to undergo terrorism training.
The
threat of terrorism has remained a major global threat largely due to
its transnational nature, the ability by terrorists to cause death and
injuries in large magnitudes and the fact that terrorists subscribe to
uncompromising extremist ideologies and ready to die for them as they
have no value for life.