Kenya is the perfect breeding ground for homegrown Al-Shabaab terrorists

I don’t know why everyone is surprised that the first Al-Shabaab terrorist to be arrested and jailed in Kenya is not a Somali, but a young Luhya man from Western Kenya.

Kenya is a perfect breeding ground for terrorists and suicide bombers because it has the two ingredients that make recruitment to terrorist organisations so attractive – a high unemployment rate among youth and widespread corruption.

Impressionable and unemployed youth who have nothing much to look forward to can be easily lured to become terrorists, if presented with incentives such as money or a better afterlife.

Jobless, dejected and disillusioned youth may find the idea of becoming a martyr to a cause attractive. Some may become terrorists just for adventure.

Corruption ensures that would-be terrorists escape the security dragnet easily.

I wonder how many Al-Shabaab have got away scot-free at police checks and border posts by parting with as little as Sh200.

The problem is compounded by the culture of impunity that is pervasive among our leadership.

Young people who see leaders get away with grand corruption may feel emboldened by their immoral actions.

All those youth who might have benefitted from the Kazi ka Vijana project, for example, but who were robbed of millions of shillings by corrupt officers in government are potential Al-Shabaab recruits.

If we cannot see the link between government corruption and the growth of home-grown terrorism, then the national project of eliminating Al-Shabaab in our midst and across the border in Somalia is going nowhere.

Corruption, incompetence and lack of respect for ordinary citizens are the conditions under which terrorism thrives.

A few weeks ago, I wrote about how my calls to police stations in many parts of Coast Province went unanswered.

I finally got through to the Nairobi Police headquarters, only to be told by a rude officer that I was wasting his time.

This was even before I even told him what I was calling about.

When I wrote about the incident in this column, I expected a follow-up call or email from the police spokesperson or my local police station in Malindi.

But to date no one has bothered asking me why I had called all those police stations, or what my complaint was.

Nor have I received any apology from the men and women in uniform whose job it is to be of service to the nation’s citizens.

This lack of responsiveness probably cost the Frenchwoman Marie Dedieu her life.