Kenya priest: “Deal with Al-Shabaab without victimisation”

Bellah Zulu, ACNS

An Anglican priest has called on the Kenyan government not to victimise Somali communities in their hunt for Al-Shabbab terrorists.

Speaking to ACNS, the Revd Canon Francis Omondi called on the government to desist from extra-judicially killing those suspected of terrorism in the country, but instead legally charge them using the Anti-terrorism Act.

“The security service have been told to shoot to kill leaders of the Al-Shabaab and are searching house to house asking for ID cards in the area where the Somalis live,” he said.

“The way the government is tackling the Al-Shabaab threat is counterproductive and will not solve the problem of terrorism. We must not blanket the whole Somali and refugee community in this country as being terrorists.”

It is reported that, over the past two weeks, around 4,000 people, mainly Somali immigrants, have been arrested in the Kenyan Suburb of Eastleigh on suspicious of terrorism involvement in an exercise called Operation Usalama Watch.

Those arrested included women and children, and most were interrogated and had their legal status checked. At least six people were killed in an explosion in Eastleigh during the same period.

The Canon said that in dealing with Al-Shabaab the Kenyan Government should change tactics and emulate the Somalia government, which organised a religious conference to tackle extremism.

“My key suggestion is that the government should facilitate an intra-religious meeting among Muslim leaders to discuss and begin tackling the issue within the Muslim community itself,” said Canon Omondi.

“In Somalia some 160 religious scholars even issued a fatwa denouncing Al-Shabaab, saying the group had no place in Islam,” he added.

Canon Omondi's views are echoed by the country’s former Prime Minister Raila Odinga who said cracking down on suspected terrorist hideouts is “not only wrong but counter productive in the long run.”

"You can’t just unleash security organs on any Kenyan community on the assumption that that community is involved in terrorism,” he said.

But Kenya’s Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph ole Lenku has denied claims that Operation Usalama Watch was targeting ethnic Somalis. He said, “The mop up of criminals is going on across Nairobi and Mombasa and will spread across the entire country to remove either illegal aliens or criminals in our country.”

Notes

• The Revd Canon Francis Omondi is a priest in the Anglican Church of Kenya and is the founder and International Director of Sheepfold Ministries.