Chasing terrorists hard - Minister Kania

L-R: The UN Resident Coordinator in Uganda, Ms Rosa Malango, Internal Affairs Minister, Obiga Kania, Japanese ambassador Mr Kazuaki Kameda and IGAD official Dr Simon Nyambura, at the national consultative meeting on preventing and countering violent extremist in the East and Horn of Africa, at the Imperial Royale Hotel.

What you need to know:

The countries represented are; Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Djibouti, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia and Uganda, said Dr Simon Nyambura, the Head of CVE/CT at the IGAD secretariat. The conference is organized by IGAD with funding from the government of Japan and the United National Development Programme (UNDP) giving technical support for the crafting of the regional strategy

KAMPALA

Internal Affairs Minister, Obiga Kania has admitted that chasing after extremists or preventing their attacks is a difficult task. Instead, the Minister asked governments to eliminate the things that lure people, especially the youth in what he described as “heinous acts.”

“Extremists have continued to exploit opportunities and gaps (to attack),” Minister Kania said. “We have tried the preventive measure; to stop them (extremists) from coming here and we have so far succeeded.”

“We have tried to disrupt them from their sources; we have succeeded in most of them. We have pursued them but they are in many places and you cannot pursue them everywhere,” Mr Kania explained.

In 2007, Uganda deployed the UPDF in Somalia to fight the Al Shabaab extremists who carry out terrorist attacks in the region. Although the army managed to dislodge them from Mogadishu and several other towns, they still pounce and cause havoc.

In July 2010, the militants carried out bomb attacks at Kyaddondo rugby club and Ethiopian village in Kampala that killed over 70 people who were watching finals of the football world cup.
The minister, who was opening a national consultative meeting on preventing and countering violent extremist in the East and Horn of Africa, at the Imperial Royale Hotel in Kampala last week, said only a regional strategy can ably combat extremism.

“This is not a problem for Uganda alone, neither for the region but for the entire world. If you hear of an incident where an individual goes to a school and they shoot whoever they find, you cannot have an answer apart from finding out why someone is behaving that way. If you find out that it was a terrorist, you must find out what makes them do so because there could be many causes like political marginalization and others,” Obiga said afterwards in an interview.

The delegates at the conference drawn from eight countries of the Inter Government Authority of Development (IGAD), are expected to contribute ideas for the crafting of a regional strategy to prevent and counter extremism and terrorism.

The countries represented are; Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Djibouti, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia and Uganda, said Dr Simon Nyambura, the Head of CVE/CT at the IGAD secretariat. The conference is organized by IGAD with funding from the government of Japan and the United National Development Programme (UNDP) giving technical support for the crafting of the regional strategy.

The UN Resident Coordinator in Uganda, Ms Rosa Malango said UNDP recognizes that while the battle for violent extremism needs to be won at the local and national level it requires a regional response to be sustained.

“This meeting today is recognition of the consensus of this view amongst us all here: that we must work together to achieve 2030 Agenda in our region and the world,” she added.

She said countries in the region need to establish the reasons why their citizens engage in extremist acts. “Youth in Uganda, account for about 70% of the population. Failure to engage them constructively leaves them vulnerable to many risks including recruitment to violent extremism,” Ms Malango noted.

The Japanese ambassador, Mr Kazuaki Kameda said, “The spread of extremism and terrorism undermines world peace and efforts for economic growth.”

Mr Kameda said the Government of Japan offered $250,000 to UNDP to coordinate the establishment of a regional strategy for the prevention of violent extremism. “The Government of Japan is pleased to contribute to regional peace and stability in partnership with UNDP and IGAD.”