The Cabinet Secretary for Defence, Hon. Aden Duale has today hosted the Secretary General of the Islamic Military Counter-Terrorism Coalition (IMCTC) Major General Mohammed Bin Saeed Al-Moghedi who paid him a courtesy visit at the Defence Headquarters, Nairobi.
IMCTC is a global alliance founded in December 2015 comprising of 42 countries with its Headquarters at Riyadh in Saudi Arabia and Kenya is a member State.
The body is responsible for coordinating, unifying and supporting efforts by the Member States in counterterrorism in the domains of ideology, communication as well as counterterrorist financing.
The CS maintained that Kenya has been a victim of terrorist activities in the past through the Al-Queda linked Al-Shabaab militia but the country has adopted a multi-agency approach to counter the threat and pacify the frequently attacked areas.
He noted that Muslim religion has for a long time been wrongly linked with terrorism saying this is a result of radicalization of newly converted Muslims since all religions represented in Kenya have integrated over the years.
“We have several incidences where the terrorists spare Muslims but kill our Christian brothers and sisters yet we have integrated very well since we enjoy the freedom of religion. Terrorism has no religion and we shall overcome the war against violent extremism in concert with our allies,” said the Hon. Duale.
He maintained that Kenya has a lot to learn from Saudi Arabia owing to it’s vast experience in counterterrorism and border security.
Hon. Duale said that efforts are at an advanced stage to formulate a structured Defence Cooperation Agreement between Kenya and Saudi Arabia that shall make it possible to have a bilateral framework.
Earlier during the day, the Vice Chief of Defence Forces (VCDF) Lieutenant General Jonah Mwangi hosted the Secretary General separately where they discussed areas of possible cooperation in the field of defence and security.
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