Residents of Kiambu County have been cautioned against branding every person of Somali origin or of the Muslim faith as a terrorist as this would create unnecessary social and religious tension in the area.
Speaking from his office on Monday, Kiambu police boss Stephen Ng’etich said terrorists were criminals who were out to kill people and destroy their property and that linking them to a specific ethnicity or religion was not advisable.
Residents of Somali origin and those professing the Muslim faith had raised concerns saying they were being stigmatised by the security officers and area residents.
Ng'etich said that residents should not be harassed just because they belong to a particular community or religion adding that police swoops in both public and private places will continue until the threat of insecurity caused by terror attacks is contained.
Abdi Galgalo, a resident in the area said he had lived in the county for over 20 years now and could not understand why the area residents and the security officers were discriminating against him.
"Frequent impromptu ransacks, coupled with verbal mockery by my neighbours calling me an Al Shabaab perpetrator has made me feel intimidated and miserable even after living with them for long," said Galgalo.
He urged the government to create awareness among the public and inform the residents that Muslims are not perpetrators of terrorism.
Hussein Ibrahim, a business owner in Kiambu Town said that he has been discriminated by many of his customers who have been avoiding to buy from him for the last one month over unsubstantiated claims that he was a member of the terror group.
Hussein lamented that his main concern was the rate at which he is making huge losses in his business simply because of his ethnicity and religious affiliations.
Joseph Maina, a Kirigiti resident said branding all Muslims and people from the Somali origin as terrorists was wrong as it is a primitive way of thinking.
Maina further said that that Al Shabaab was a stubborn minority bent on causing suffering on civilians even in Somali and urged Kenyans to cooperate and give the government information that could be useful in fighting terrorism.