• More than 250 children are orphaned and 81 woman widowed.
• Extrajudicial killings and forced disappearances are rampant in Msambweni.
Image: FILE
Salim Likungu was kidnapped at Ibiza in Ukunda and disappeared without trace five years ago.
The 42-year-old father of eight is among 47 people in Kwale who have either been killed or the 18 who have disappeared mysteriously in four years.
The family is losing hopes of ever finding him alive and police say he may have been lured into an al Shabaab trap.
Salim's father Hamisi Likungu says his son was leaving his workshop for lunch when he was forced into a Probox.
Muslim clerics say al Shabaab militants are increasing gaining a foothold in Kwale since residents have low education on Islam.
Sheikh Hamisi Banda of Markaz mosque in Diani says criminal gangs have been taking advantage of poverty and low education in Islamic doctrine to lure youths to join the group.
A report by a human right groups Human Development Agenda (Huda) states that 42 per cent of Muslims do not understand the teachings of Islam.
"The majority of Muslims cannot recite a prayer in Arabic. As a result, some selfish imams exploit this to radicalise them," Huda says in its report of 2016.
Huda programme officer Kashi Jermaine says more than 250 children are orphaned and 81 woman widowed as a result of the deaths.
The official spoke during a two-day stakeholders' meeting. The lobby will draft a report that will be presented to the Senate.
Extrajudicial killings and forced disappearances are rampant in Bongwe and Ukunda wards in Msambweni, Huda says.
The region hosts a number of al Shabaab returnees. The whereabouts some of them is unknown. Most of the killings and disappearances are linked to the group.
Damaris Limba from Bongwe village said her husband went missing in February 2014 and he has not contacted his family since then.
A Shabaab returnee Subira Sudi was murdered in cold blood after allegedly surrendering to the authorities. He returned from Somalia after the government gave an amnesty for the returnees.
In another case, former MCA aspirant Kombo Chui and his friend Nassib Diti were gunned down in April last year by unknown people.
Two police officers were also killed in 2017 while manning a church in Ukunda and their attackers stole their firearms.
County commissioner Karuku Ngumo says there are some al Shabaab returnees in Kwale and more youth are still being recruited.
Ngumo asked parents to plead with their children to return home because the amnesty for reformed al Shabaab returnees is still available.
"The returnees can come back to us through religious leaders and we can help them reform. We have already helped many," Ngumo says.
Kashi says many victims of extrajudicial killings and forced disappearances are yet to get justice due to lack of goodwill and victimisation of both the victims and witnesses owing to shoddy investigations.
"It’s high time that the authorities come out and condemn the injustices and the perpetrators should be brought to book," Kashi says.