Kenya, which has suffered attacks by Al Shabaab Islamist fighters, will build a special prison to house “violent extremist” offenders to keep them from influencing other prisoners, this is according to President Uhuru Kenyatta.
The Head of State, however, did not single out any particular group that will be held in the special prisons.
“We will establish a new prison to hold violent, extremist offenders – the truth of the matter is that we cannot allow them to spread their poison to vulnerable Kenyans,” he said in a speech on Tuesday
His speech, read at a graduation ceremony for guards on Tuesday, gave no timelines for the prison’s establishment. Kenya already has several maximum security jails, such as Kamiti Maximum in Nairobi.
Last June, Kenyatta promised a new campaign to stop people joining violent radical groups and to fight the influence of Al Shabaab, saying conventional policing methods would not be enough to tackle the threat from radicalised men and women.
Some of the gunmen involved in the biggest attacks on Kenyan soil in recent years, including the attack on Garissa University, were Kenyan citizens who had joined Al Shabaab.
Al Qaeda-linked Al Shabaab has staged a string of attacks in Somalia and surrounding countries aimed at imposing its harsh brand of Islam and overthrowing the Somali government, which is backed by Western donors and African peacekeepers.
Source: Citizen
