By Victor Bwire
NAIROBI, Kenya – Concerns are emerging that media coverage and framing of religious extremism in the country, away from focusing on the larger push and pull factors, is limiting the handling of the issue to security lenses only.
Unlike the larger terrorism, violent extremism and radicalization issue where the government used a multi-agency approach, including social, cultural and economic considerations, news analysis on the matter seems to suggest that once security agencies set in, arrest and charge the leadership of the controversial sects, the matter will rest.
The opposite seems reigning, for more sects are coming up, and their ideologies need a wider intervention.
Over the years, for example the coverage of the Good News International Church in Shakahola in Kilifi county, episodic coverage of the sect leaders, dramatic and near heroic presentation of their activities and focus on their fallacious teachings and attractions seem to get more media attention without much thinking around the socio, economic and related factors that force the followers into doing what they do.
Similar concerns have been raised around activities of the unregistered Kabonokia Sect, operating in some parts of the country, which among others target economically disadvantaged, illiterate and marginalized people, preach against conventional medicine and education for their members.
The increasing incidence of religious extremism and related socio-economic factors that seem to push people into their trap has not been well and professionally framed and prioritized in the media, a lot being centered around the founder members, who are treated as isolated criminal issues.
The reporting as seen from the media relating to the Shakahola cases focuses on the security lapses or failure in intelligence forced a near security only approach to the issue including arresting the leaders, blocking access to the sites and setting up of task force.
Unlike in the interventions on countering violent extremism and radicalization where the efforts acknowledging that the causes were broader including poverty, marginalization, illiteracy, politics of exclusion among others, saw stakeholders led by the government increase its security operations (intelligence gathering and enhanced operations to deter such activities), actions by non-state actors to increase community resilience against negative effects of terrorism (rehabilitation, re integration and countering violent extremism) and media/security dialogues to minimize publicity to terrorist and sharing information that does not compromise national security.
The National Counter Terrorism Center has particularly been strategic in coordinating such interventions across the Government, Media Council of Kenya has partnered with the Ministry of Interior to hold media/ security dialogues including producing guidelines on media reporting on terrorism among others.
Today with religious sects, the broader causes are not detailed enough and highlighted for serious policy interventions and with spur of the moment media coverage, religious extremism has been limited to a security issue.
For example, among the recommendations on the Shakahola Task Force appointed by President of Kenya was for the creation public awareness and promote religious tolerance and countering violent extremism and the regulation of harmful religious content in digital and broadcast media.
The Senate Ad-Hoc Committee on Shakahola recommended the regulation of digital platforms by engaging social media giants to deplatform Paul Mackezie and prohibit related content and related content while the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights early interventions by regulatory bodies to prevent misuse of media freedoms by extremist preachers.
The singling out of the media spans from the fact that media functions to presenting information and relaying images to its audience; it also possesses the ability to shape opinions and present a particular perspective as reality.
While media is immensely useful in supplementing the democratic process, it is noteworthy too that it can be a destructive tool through its dysfunctional function.
In its dysfunctional role, media, rather than present the full picture of an event, an episode, or a trend in society does, instead, package and frame an event only partially and presents that partiality as if it is the whole truth.
Media needs to increasingly be included in ongoing efforts to deal with terrorism and violent extremis, as many times they are exposed to physical dangers during such security operations, run the risk of being targeted by the terrorists or security agencies, traumatized from what they see, or run the risk of being recruited into such groups or become radicalized.
We need specific interventions for the media as they are high risk group in the war on terror.
The Media Council of Kenya revise code of conduct for media practice 2025, section 24 provides that; do not use religious content to maliciously attack, insult, harass or ridicule other faiths, sects, or denominations of their adherents, avoid glamorizing occultism, Witchcraft, exorcism, paranormal activities or pseudo-scientific practices and ensure religious content featuring superstitious or pseudo-scientific beliefs and practices, is presented responsibly in a manner that does not mislead the public or contravene this code
