Haki Africa Executive Director Hussein Khalid during a past media briefing. [Photo/ hrw.org]
Haki Africa Executive Director Hussein Khalid has said the ongoing efforts to come up with a Counter Violent Extremism policy for Mombasa will assist both the Central government and the community to curb cases of youth joining terror groups.Speaking on Monday during a forum in Mombasa which brought together security agents, officers from the counter terrorism centre, Human rights defenders and government officials, Khalid said the exercise is in its last stages and the policy will be launched in May.“This policy is designed for Mombasa County since it is the most affected county in terms of terror-related issues but it is not limited to the county,” said Khalid.He said though the issue of extremism among young people at the Coast has reduced, the problem should not be ignored but pursued.“We need politicians on board and they should promise us more efforts in containing extremism among the youths, since they are in a better position to disentangle our youth from the vice,” he said.Khalid said the problem started back in 2011 when youth from the region were recruited but the government failed to tackle it until al-Shabaab returnees started launching attacks in the country.The Counter Violent Extremism policy entails inclusive efforts by the Central government, Human rights defenders, religious leaders, the Anti-terror police unit, the local administration among other stakeholders.Some of the issues which will be tackled in the policy include; providing counseling to affected parties, integrating them into the society, supporting them with employment and youth empowerment programmes.“Unemployment is one of the major reasons why our youth have opted to join al-Shabaab, so it is important for us empower them in order to see the positive results,” said Khalid.Mombasa County Commissioner Evans Achoki supported the lobby’s initiative, adding that the government will fully support the activists to ensure the Policy is implemented in the Coast region and in the Country at large.