Countering violent extremism is the magic bullet in war on terror

The war on terrorism is a repetitive and metamorphic affair that must be done elaborately and strategically.

The war keeps evolving as technology advances and new trends emerge. But the parties involved are constant.  For as long as there are adversaries against humanity, there must be diverse strategies that protagonists of the war on terror can adopt to win.

 With the number of terrorists ever growing as humanity involves itself in more complex affairs, it is prudent that terrorism is dealt with from the root and preventive measures adopted to curb.

Terror attacks

 One such strategy that deals directly with involved parties is Countering Violent Extremism (CVE), which is effectively taking root in Kenya as a core strategy in forestalling terror attacks.

 Countering an ideological war, CVE simply makes reference to anti-radicalization efforts employed to curtail the war on corruption.

 It is best described as “proactive actions to pre-empt or disrupt efforts by violent extremists to radicalise, recruit, and mobilise followers to violence, and to address specific factors that facilitate recruitment and radicalisation to violence”.

In Kenya, the strategy has played a significant role in aiding our security agencies to reduce attacks, especially through the sharing of intelligence information that has proven useful in nabbing terrorists before they strike.

Through a collaborative effort by various security agencies, Kenya has adopted the counter violent extremism strategy in different domains that are centred on promoting community dialogues, inclusion of women and youth - especially through empowerment - and promoting of understanding through education and religion, even factoring in families and leaders.

 In a multi-agency effort, the national government has an established and fully operational National Counter Terrorism Centre, which is a multi-agency instrument focused on strengthening coordination in counter terrorism instruments by security agencies.

Terror prone regions

The Centre is part of a National Strategy to Combat Violent Extremism that was launched in September 2016, and which has immensely grown in influence and impact. The centre has been able to hold local forums, mainly in the terror prone regions of the North and Coast. It has ensured that all the 47 county governments in Kenya adopt Counter Violence Extremism into their programmes.

 The initiative encompasses the police, the Kenya Defence Forces, County administrators and other security agencies, which frequently hold meetings with local communities. Recently, a forum took place at the Changamwe Social Hall where young people were enlightened on CVE by military personnel.

With studies indicating that violent extremism is highly localised, the National Counter Terrorism Centre is focused on penetrating all counties and especially to recruitment zones of the Al-Shabaab.

Great strides have been made on this front, with stakeholders acknowledging that CVE can never be conducted in isolation but must be incorporated into administrative and civil institutions.

Social change

Counties have also been urged to mainstream CVE in all their programmes. This is meant to effectively target those at the grassroots levels, which is a fertile ground for social change as it resonates out of a better understanding of the conditions facing the youth, some of whom can be easily exploited by terrorists.

Through such forms of inclusion and promoting of understanding, locals are able to have a softened approach towards security agencies, thus facilitating trust, creating a sense of ownership and making security a community responsibility.

With such a mindset, there is also decreased hostility towards the police, military personnel and other security agencies.

It also creates a unified approach in sharing of intelligence regarding an impending threat in a town or a city. Additionally, economic empowerment reduces the vulnerability of locals to radical activities.

Such moves have proven to significantly strengthen a community's resilience against radicalisation thus having a direct effect in reducing attacks.

 For instance, recent police reports have revealed that major terrorist attacks targeting police stations and other security establishments have been foiled in Kwale County with the help of local communities.

This is the essence of Countering Violence Extremism, which should also have a presence in the country’s education curriculum to effectively eliminate any foreseeable and unforeseeable factors that might fuel radicalisation.

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