Religion, politics still fuelling violent extremism in Uganda– report

Uganda is still at risk of violent extremism in defence of religion, ideology, and political goals, a new report released on September 18 shows.
Violent extremism refers to the beliefs and actions of people who support or use violence to achieve ideological, religious, or political goals.
The research cited indoctrination, kinship, Internet, manipulation, peer influence, abduction, self-radicalisation as the methods of recruitment into violent extremism.
"One of the drivers of violent extremism is distorted religious ideologies where many people in the country have acquired violent extremist traits based on distorted religious ideologies, which comes from little or unregulated places of worship," the research revealed.
The assessment was carried out in 19 districts including Kasese, Ntoroko, Gulu, Number, Zombo, Namayingo, Mayuge, Jinja, Wakiso, Masaka, and Kampala by the Ministry of Internal Affairs in partnership with the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the European Union.
During the release of the report in Kampala yesterday, Prof Abdu Katende, a rapid threat assessment consultant who was the lead researcher, said the threat posed by violent extremism should not be taken lightly since it poses serious challenges to the country's peace, security, social cohesion, and socio-economic development.
"Preliminary information on assessment of vulnerabilities and risks of violent extremism and terrorist networks in Uganda indicates that the threat posed by the phenomenon of violent extremism, is both latent and progressively growing given the country's centrality in the region's response to violent extremism," he said.
He said picking the Rwenzori region to carry out the research was because southwestern Uganda is one of the most violent areas of the country due to the intermittent outbreak of conflicts that are orchestrated by various factors that are political, social, and influx of refugees from Democratic Republic of Congo.
"We chose the central region because it houses most of the national and international institutions involved in preventing and countering violent extremism," Prof Katende said.
Lt Gen Joseph Musanyufu, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, said the government has acknowledged and has always emphasised that peace, security, and defence are essential foundations for achieving sustainable economic development and transformation, democracy, and national unity.
"We aim to empower communities through socio-economic measures that can effectively dissuade the recruitment of vulnerable groups into violent extremism activities that may lead to terrorism. We all need to be conscious of the possible presence of violent extremist radicalisation and recruitment within our communities because this threat is always there,” he said.
He added: “This phenomenon particularly affects the vulnerable groups, which groups include youth, women, and children, drawing them into violent extremist activities, sometimes leading to terrorism."
The research recommended that the government should desist from using the fight against violent extremism as a pretext to fight and silence its political opponents and critics.
"During the research, we discovered that loss of public trust in government institutions is one of the key factors driving people into violent extremism in the country. That is why the government should make efforts to rebuild public trust in government institutions," it stated.
Ms Susan Ngongi, the UN resident coordinator in Uganda, said they will collaborate with the government to tackle the challenge of violent extremism.
"My understanding of violent extremism is a bit like a virus. And if I have learnt anything about viruses, I have learnt about viruses in Uganda. And the one thing I have learnt about viruses in Uganda is that when these epidemic starts, whatever it is, it always starts at a community, and it always ends at a community," Ms Ngongi said.
She added: "The UN recognises that violent extremism is not just a security issue, but it's deeply rooted in the broader development challenges like inequality, poverty, and the limited opportunities for young people. The extremist groups have been extremely skilful at really exploiting these vulnerabilities."