The clergy and hoteliers in Mombasa are worried over the impact of the Monday attack by a machete-wielding gang in Bamburi area where at least 11 people were injured.
On Thursday evening, the clergy called on security agencies to arrest the financiers of the gang saying dealing with the attackers alone will not help.
“If you arrest or kill the youth who are being used to attack and leave the funders to go scot-free, the financiers will simply recruit other youth,” Bishop Tee Nalo said at a press conference.
He is the Coast director of the Kenya National Congress of Pentecostal Churches and Ministries.
“The only way to stop these incidents is to go after the people behind these gangs,” he said.
On Friday, hoteliers at the Coast said gangs should not be allowed to disrupt business in the region, especially in the delicate tourism sector, because it might send the wrong message.
The Hoteliers Working Group chairman Hasnain Noorani said hotels are at the moment receiving encouraging number of tourists and holidaymakers from Western countries and this should not be disrupted.
He said domestic terrorism creates a sense of vulnerability in the region where the attacks are recurrent causing a broader economic impact.
“This sense of vulnerability is particularly damaging to the travel and hospitality industry because holidaymakers always have a choice of visiting destinations which are less terror probe,” Noorani said in a statement.
Bishop Nalo on Thursday said parents must take responsibility and work hand in hand with the national government so as to ensure security is maintained at all times.
“These gang members are our children and they live amongst us. We should be able to know where our children are and what they are doing at any given time,” said Bishop Nalo.
He defended religious leaders against accusations of failing in their duties to instil moral values in youth, who then end up becoming criminals.
He instead deflected the blame to parents and teachers.
He said the clergy in most cases spend only about two hours a week with the youth, and that is only when they go to church.
“For the rest of the hours in the week, they are mostly either in school or at home,” said Bishop Nalo.
