Members of Parliament in Nakuru have joined the county’s action plan on countering violent extremism and organised crime with three of them getting slots in the secretariat.
Nakuru County Commissioner Erastus Mbui said the move aimed at bringing in more stakeholders and make a concerted effort to prevent terrorism and radicalisation.
He said the secretariat was taking a wider scope which included monitoring and creating awareness in the community of events or actions that may be a precursor to terrorism or radicalisation of youths.
Mbui said the County Security Team meeting which brought together MPs including the Woman and senator was to expound the objectives of the Action Plan on countering violent extremism to the political leaders.
Also present during the meeting convened by Mid-Rift Human Rights Network were senior County security officers from different units and representatives of the Governor.
“This plan is taking a wider scope of fighting violent extremism because terrorism may not necessarily involve the actual of terror activities or images that we are used to seeing,” said Mbui
He added that the secretariat is expected to implement the contexts of the county action plan adding that it will ensure that no youths in the county were recruited into the terror groups.
He was quick to say that the secretariat not interfering with the work of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations or the Counter-Terror Police Unit and security organs.
“The role of this secretariat revolves around prevention, creation of awareness among leaders and the general public and plans to stop radicalisation,” he said.
He said suspects identified through the County Action Plan will be handed over to the right department for further action.
Bahati MP, Kimani Ngunjiri who doubles up as the chairman of parliamentarians in the county commended the County Security Team for engaging elected leaders.
He promised to work closely with the secretariat to ensure the security of the constituents and the country in general.
“We are glad to be included in this plan because we might be concentrating on politics and development plans and ignore security,” he said.
He urged County Commissioner Mbui to organise a meeting with MPs and other political leaders for talks on hate and dangerous speech as the country heads to General Elections in 2022.
Ngunjiri observed that some politicians who included his members still believe in spreading fear and insulting the police and national government administrator as a way of gaining mileage.
He urged Mbui and the National Police Service to take action against any politicians who were inciting communities or supporting criminals.
