Slum gods: the Kenyans steering young radicals away from terrorism
Kenya programme funds dozens of mentors to work with 200 vulnerable people in bid to stamp out extremism
by Jason Burke in Mombasa
Mar 28, 2019
4 minutes
It’s morning in Majengo, a poor neighbourhood of Mombasa. The palm trees and swimming pools of the tourist resorts scattered around the coastal Kenyan city seem a world away from these narrow, rubbish-strewn streets and tin-roofed homes. In a small community centre, a small group sit on the battered wooden benches in the searing summer heat talking of extremism, police violence and gangs – and hope and courage.
Majengo already had a bad reputation before Islamist militants killed 21 in an assault in January on a luxury hotel, office and restaurant complex in the capital Nairobi, 500km away. The neighbourhood has long been known as a fertile recruiting ground for that is responsible for a
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