ASSESSMENT OF THE IMPLICATION ON NATIONAL SECURITY IN KENYA: A CASE OF HOMEGROWN RADICAL GROUPS IN NAIROBI COUNTY

Abstract

This study attempts to illustrate the possible causatives of terrorism that is home-grown that generally concerns the public and the policy makers of Kenya. The notion that every terror attack aims at striking fear on Kenyan and foreign nationals can just be the sole shared denominator. The purpose of this study was to identify the socio-economic factors that influence international radicalization on Kenyan youths in to enable early interventions. The target area is Kenya’s capital Nairobi which has emerged as a major radicalisation hub for international and domestic terror cells in the last ten years. This research was descriptive research design where the data was collected from the respondents as it occurs in the population using a questionnaire. The study targeted 210 individuals. The study concluded that Some of the social factors include level of education, social identification and network dynamics. We have seen that people are being recruited via social media sites, which are Facebook and twitter. Internet pursues a huge part in increment of radicalization. Environments of work, education institutions, faith-based organizations, prisons, internet and also families contribute to radicalization of these youths. Majority of the unemployed youths tend to be indoctrinated into radicalization because they are idle and they have nothing to do. Economic factors that bring about terrorism include economic deprivation and poverty. Social factors for instance network dynamics and social identification bring about radicalization. Identification with social groups is a particularly accurate predictor of social behavior and is, as such, probably one of the most important intervening factors at the social level. The study recommendations were that there happens to be a necessity of reforming education on religions to adopt reasonable religion, and training the members of the clergy in order to promote reliable religious values. The clerics of Islam are supposed to work in conjunction with the state towards combating radicalization of religion and intense extremism of youths. The security agents should put measures to ensure increased public participation in countering terrorism. This is going to open doors to security agencies for interacting with the civilians and developing a good relationship thus understanding and gaining more insight concerning that community and efficiently gathering intelligence.

Key words: Implication on National Security, Socio-Economic Factors, International Radicalization