Lamu youth taught life skills under counter-extremism initiative

Youths drawn from areas that have previously witnessed al Shabaab terror attacks in Lamu county on Wednesday converged at Mpeketoni town where they were trained on counter-violent extremism.

The retreat was held at the Mpeketoni Royal Hotel, organised by the Kiunga Youth Bunge Initiative and partners.

During the retreat, the youth were taken through entrepreneurial skill training, which is meant to enable them to embrace business and education to help them stay away from radicalisation and violent extremism.

The objective was to spread the message of peace and tackle terrorism and radicalisation among the youth.

Participants at the retreat reminisced about the worst-ever terror attack that struck Lamu when hundreds of armed militants raided Mpeketoni town on the night of June 15, 2014, and butchered over 100 men, leaving a trail of death and destruction in their wake.

There were subsequent attacks in neighbouring areas of Witu, Kibaoni, Hindi, Baharini and others which left scores dead and property worth millions destroyed.

However, close to ten years later, the community has risen above the ashes of terrorism and remains resilient in the quest for peace and development.

KYBI director Noor Dahir highlighted the lack of education and meaningful employment as among the major factors that make youth a target of radical and criminal groups.

He warned that the enemy is keen to maximise the two gaps with a view to misleading communities and especially the youth who are more vulnerable to violent extremism and terrorism.

Dahir urged the youth to join cooperatives and community-based education to enable them to acquire loans to develop themselves and earn a living.

“We are aware terrorists maximise on unemployment and lack of education to lure our youth into joining terror groups and crime. But we can defeat their mindset by countering their tactics by acquiring useful skills and making use of government loan provisions to better our lives,” said Dahir.

He said an educated and enlightened population can never fall prey to terrorism or violent extremism.

During the event, Lamu West sub-county officer for social development Joshua Makau took the youth through the various steps needed in the formation and registration of groups and cooperative societies.

He said such groups will make it easy for them to access government loan services and set up businesses.

He cited discipline and self-drive as major drivers that will enable the success and effectiveness of any groups formed and the realisation of their objectives.

“Registering as an individual will cost you Sh1000 while as a group, you will need Sh5000. Once the registration is done, it becomes easy for you to apply for loans be it in the county or national government or even with NGOs,” said Makau.

The chairperson of the Lamu Peace Ambassadors Joseph Kamau urged the youth to strive to succeed in life by sticking to what’s legal.

“When you are idle and not doing anything to make your life better, you become an easy target for radicalisation and violent extremism. But if you are out there and are aware of what to do to change your life, breakthroughs are inevitable,” he said.