Why terrorist organisations are increasingly recruiting women

Women’s role in terrorism remains obscure due to inherent gender constructs and glaring prejudices within terrorist groups. Their soft demeanor and positive feminine energy make them appear harmless while men are often considered troublemakers. This explains why most counter-terrorism efforts are focused on male terrorists, overlooking the place of women in the terror networks. Terrorist groups like Al-Shabaab and Islamic State Somalia have exploited this gap to assign women sensitive roles like intelligence gathering, recruitment, smuggling weapons and financial facilitation to evade detection from security agencies.

Kenya is cognisant of evolving terrorism trends that have elevated women to be both victims and villains. They are no longer passive actors in terrorism theatre but active participants, with some serving as combatants. In 2019, Al-Shabaab conducted a terror attack in Mogadishu, Somalia, using a female suicide bomber, killing seven government officials including Abdirahman Omar Osman, the Mayor of Mogadishu. In light of the emerging trend of women involvement in terrorism, the government has put more focus on unearthing the role of Kenyan women recruited into Al-Shabaab and Islamic State.

The government demonstrated its resolve recently by placing 13 terrorists, including women, on the Domestic Terrorism Sanctions through the Financial Reporting Centre (FRC). Among those designated for terrorism financing are Violet Kemunto Omwoyo aka Khadija Mohamoud, the wife of Dusit D2 mastermind Ali Salim Gichunge aka Farouk, and a banker, Zuena Nakumicha Machabe. By dint of the designation by the FRC, the suspected terrorists suffered financial sanctions including banks freezing their accounts or prohibiting any financial dealings with them. The directive is in line with the Prevention of Terrorism Act and other related regulations, following determination by the Counter Financing of Terrorism Inter-Ministerial Committee, which authorised inclusion of the terrorists on the country’s Domestic List.

Among the sanctions, include freezing of assets belonging to the terrorists to disable economic resources powering terror activities. FRC also warned Kenyans and organisations against facilitating or associating with the terrorists, failure to which they will be prosecuted.

With the robust actions to tame terror financing, Kenya inches closer to secure removal from the Financial Action Task Force grey list and enhances its credentials as a regional financial cum investment hub. Closing financial taps is a successful strategy in the war on terror by denying terror groups like Al-Shabaab resources to fund their activities and make facilitators like Kemunto irrelevant.

Kemunto, together with her slain terrorist husband Gichunge, played facilitative and intelligence gathering roles due their familiarity with Nairobi. Gichunge saw more than love in Kemunto as she eventually became her partner in crime. On her part, Kemunto was blinded into extremist life, which has made her the most wanted female terror suspect in Kenya. She is now living by the gun and may die by the gun like her former husband Gichunge. Already, all is not rosy in Somalia for her as Al-Shabaab homegrown fighters treat their foreign colleagues as children of a lesser god. The likes of Kemunto often face accusations of spying for Kenya and Somalia governments and can be detained incommunicado or publicly executed for such trumped-up charges. With heightened counter-terrorism operations, Al-Shabaab operatives are living on borrowed time.

After the demise of her husband, Kemunto’s life became unbearable. Initially, Al-Shabaab commanders promised to reward her for the successful Dusit D2 attack, which her husband masterminded. However, the only known reward that was extended to Kemunto was being forcibly married off to an Al-Shabaab commander. It is a norm within Al-Shabaab for women within their ranks to marry fighters to enable them concentrate on their so-called Jihadi cause.

In a desperate attempt to attract more women into terrorism, terror groups like Al-Shabaab and ISIS have romanticised them as Jihadi brides. The brides are assigned husbands within the terror movement to support them with duties like cooking, cleaning, giving birth and raising children. With cases of human rights violations rife within Al-Shabaab camps, women like Kemunto are bearing the brunt. Apart from being forcibly married to Abdikadir, she has suffered sexual abuse by multiple men in the Al-Shabaab camp. At some stage, there were reports that she contemplated defecting from Al-Shabaab.

Kemunto’s story of terror groups being unfriendly to women is the same for Zuena who is affiliated to ISIS. Just like Kemunto, Zuena is a professional in her own right but ISIS has reduced her to a slave for men. She is a career banker, having worked for a number of leading banks and other organisations in Kenya before switching gear to ISIS. The duo’s cases signifies growing appetite for professionals, including women, within terror groups to legitimise their criminal actions. The mistreatment of Jihadi brides is enough to scare any woman dreaming of joining terror groups.

As an experienced banker, Zuena used her privileged position to facilitate ISIS funding and logistics network in Eastern Africa. Hawk-eyed security agencies were proactive enough to smoke out Zuena’s underground terrorism activities and nip them in the bud. She came into the limelight in 2023 following her arrest in Tanzania in an intelligence-led operation supported by Kenyan security agencies. At the time of her arrest, she was heading to Zambia then travel to Somalia via Ethiopia to join ISIS cell. She was repatriated to Kenya and charged for radicalisation and recruitment of people into ISIS.

The court released her on bond only for her to go underground. Her case remains active and security agencies are looking for her. With the recent listing of Zuena in the Domestic Terrorism Sanctions List, her days are numbered. The action by FRC puts her in the limelight both locally and abroad to facilitate information sharing on her whereabouts to be arrested to face justice.

With the ongoing counter-terrorism operations in Kenya and Somalia degrading both Al-Shabaab and ISIS, some operatives are considering defecting to evade the wrath of security agencies. Kemunto and other Kenyan Jihadi brides willing to defect from the terrorist groups are lucky that Kenya has a robust policy on rehabilitation.