This archive report was first published on 18 August 2019.
On a typical Monday morning in Mombasa's Majengo slums, the bustling market is filled with young men and women idly strolling up and down the streets, a stark reminder of the high unemployment rates in the county.
Since November 2018, residents have been plagued by marauding gangs, comprising boys as young as 12 to young men in their 20s and 30s, who roam the streets armed with knives and machetes, terrorizing anyone they encounter.
According to residents, the gangs, often under the influence of drugs, brandish their weapons openly, without fear, and have been responsible for robberies, attacks on pedestrians, and break-ins in residences and businesses.
One resident, who wished to remain anonymous, revealed that the gangs have created a high-risk environment, instilling fear among the hundreds who reside in the city, and that they hunt down anyone who speaks out against them, warning, 'If you attack one of them, the whole gang will come for you'.
Violence and insecurity have long characterized Mombasa, but religious leaders, under the Inter-Religious Council of Kenya's Mombasa County Dialogue Reference Group (DRG), have been working to address these issues.
Reverend Martin Kivuva, chair of IRCK's Dialogue Reference Group, explained that the group has been holding national and county dialogue conferences to deliberate on issues affecting the common Kenyan, stating, 'We started national dialogue in September 2017, comprising around 600 people from all counties to deliberate on issues affecting the common Kenyan.'
Rev. Kivuva attributed the causes of violence and insecurity in the county to lagging education, saying, 'As we see in Coast, despite having beaches, hotels, the port, education is still lagging. We lead from the bottom.'
Ms. Hamisa Maalim, Secretary General of the dialogue group in Mombasa, noted that dialogue instituted by the IRCK has been instrumental in promoting security and peace, saying, 'Muslims and Christians did not get along. Muslims blamed Christians for radicalisation and terrorism, while locals blamed Kenyans from other regions for taking their jobs. The county dialogues have helped us learn that the stereotypes we had of each other were wrong.'
