A new report released on Friday has revealed how the Al-Shabaab terror group is recruiting inmates in Kenyan prisons.
The report by Hans Seidel Foundation shows that the Somalia-based militants have taken advantage of the poorly managed Kenyan prisons to recruit new members.
The stigma associated with the prisons has been cited as the main tool for the recruiters who have a powerful appeal of Al Shabaab's beliefs and practices.
According to the report, the recruiters, mainly Muslim leaders who are in prison as terror suspects, purport to offer inmates jailed over petty offences a chance to be cleansed and forgiven.
They also operate outside or around a religious education system that is not standardised or transparent.
The report highlights that the inmates usually fall prey due to the unbearable conditions in the prisons.
Once a recruited prisoner is freed, he links with other recruiters outside the prison, who are reportedly based in some rogue mosques that were not highlighted in the report.
Following the revelations, experts have called on the government to move with speed and ensure that prisons do not serve as recruiting grounds.
“There is no coherent rehabilitation programme. The state views them as sleeper cells while Al-Shabaab views them as deserters,” said Mr Rashid Abdi who is an expert, during a recent conference on combating violent extremism in Nairobi.
Early this year, President Uhuru Kenyatta announced that the State was working on a plan to end radicalisation among prisoners.
The Head of State indicated that the government was intending to build separate prisons for convicted terrorists.
