Not even the chairman of the Imams and Preachers of Kenya (IPK), Sheikh Mohammed Idris and OrganisingSecretary Sheikh Mohammed Khalifa have been spared the youths’ wrath.
The radicalisation has worried Kenyan and international security agencies with fears that it could result into increased terrorism activities in the country and across the borders.
An NTV investigation at the Coast indicated that Sheikhs Idris and Khalifa were ejected from their positions on December 2, last year.
The youth seen as the cause of increased terror attacks in Mombasa stormed the mosque and kicked out the imam and conducted the sermons themselves.
This caught Muslim leaders by surprise and they met in Mombasa for days to craft a solution.
The leadership of IPK, which is a respected top organ of Muslims, has recently faced the wrath of radicalised youth for being “moderates”.
Imams in Mombasa’s Kisauni and Likoni areas were also warned to move out of the mosques or be forcefully removed.
Mosques at the sprawling Majengo estate are now also under the control of the radicalised youths.
Musa Mosque is deemed as a haven for disenfranchised, andunemployed youth and sympathetic to preachers with links to radical groups like the Al-Shabaab. Sakina mosque is seen as moderate.
Masjid Musa has also been under foreign and local police radar as a breeding base for brainwashed youth joining Al- Shabaab but the youth there have denied it.
Many of the youth who spoke to NTV at Masjid Musa and their current spiritualleaders believe slain preacher Aboud Rogo died a martyr and they are following in his footsteps. Rogo was accused of spreading hatred against non-Muslims in the name of religion and aiding in recruitment of youths to terror groups.
Last month, Musa mosque was in the news when police officers stormed it after a deadly clash with the radicalised youth.
Security agencies had proposed the closure of the mosque altogether for breeding terrorism and being a hot-bed for Al-Shabaab militant teaching and training.
Muslim preacher Sheikh Makaburi who has been at loggerheads with the government over his teachings that border on incitement said the mosque activities would never change as the rich do not want to be associated with it.
After the death of Sheikh Rogo, who was the imam at Masjid Musa, the committee running it was retired before being abandoned in October last year due to its constant association with terrorism.
The mosque has attracted hundreds of youth for the last six years. The death of Sheikh Rogo created a vacuum. Lack of leadership structure at Masjid Musa led to younger members assuming leadership to date.
NTV found a young man living with three bullets in his body after a deadly clash with police on February 2 at the mosque.
Muslim cleric Abubakar Shariff Ahmed popularly known as Makaburi led youth to cleanse the mosque and change its name from Masjid Musa to Masjid Shuhadaa.
Meanwhile, police have launched a manhunt for the owner of a vehicle found carrying six bombs and weapons in Mombasa.
The Toyota Hilux Surf, KAN 410E, is registered under Mr Barnabas Kipkoskei Kiprono of P O Box 1459 Eldoret.
Police also found an AK-47 rifle, ammunition and grenades in the car.
It is alleged that the suspects in custody told the officers that the owner of the vehicle left it under their care and travelled to Tanzania.
- Daily Nation
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