Clerics no security threat, Supkem tells state

Religious leaders have an integral role in enhancing security, Northeastern regional commissioner Mohamed Birik said on Friday. 

The administrator spoke in Garissa during a security meeting organised by the Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims. It was attended by senior regional, county and subcounty security officers at a hotel.

He said the role of the clerics cannot be ignored.

“I cannot overemphasise religious leaders' contributions in security. They have over the years played a big role and have a responsibility for improving our security. They have a large clientele which we need good use of,” Birik said.

He added, “We need joins hands and condemn al Shabaab in the strongest terms possible."

Information sharing between the clerics and the security personnel is key to winning the war against terror, he said. 

“Clerics are the most trusted in the community. People are ready to share crucial information to them which they can pass on to the security agents." 

Religious leaders had, earlier in the meeting, complained that they find it hard to share such information with the security agents because the information has been leaked in the past, putting their lives in danger.

They had raised concerns that some of their colleagues have been picked up people suspected to be security agents, never to return.

Birik said the meeting was the beginning of a new chapter to build trust between them [clerics] and the government. 

Supkem chairman Abdullahi Salat said they have, on numerous occasions, found themselves in an uncomfortable situation where religion demands they preach peace whereas security agents view them as a security threat.

He said since the war on terror began in 2011, a number of Muslim clerics have either disappeared or been killed by people suspected to be security agents.

This, Salat said, only serves to create a major gap between them and the government.

“The government should stop applying double standards. If it has decided to work with us then let them be honest. We have always been ready to work with them as that is what religion teaches." 

(Edited by R.Wamochie)