On June 22, 2012 the US Embassy in Kenya issued the following Emergency Message:
“This is to alert all U.S. citizens in Kenya, or planning to travel to Kenya in the near future, that the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi has received information of an imminent threat of a terrorist attack in Mombasa, Kenya. All U.S. government travel to Mombasa is suspended until July 1, 2012. All U.S. government personnel are required to leave Mombasa. U.S. private citizens are not subject to the same restrictions, but should consider this information in their travel planning.”
CCI realizes that it can be difficult for faith-based organizations with a long-term presence in a country to interpret these types of government warnings. In this case, CCI takes note of prior terrorist attacks (both attempts and completed events) in Mombasa, and a credible recent pattern of threat information related to terrorist activity in and around Mombasa. In addition, the wording of this message, specifying an “imminent threat of a terrorist attack”, is strong language. When accompanied by the information that all travel of US government personnel to Mombasa is suspended, CCI believes that faith-based organizations should give this Emergency Message very serious consideration and respond accordingly. We would advise particular caution surrounding any planned public events involving faith-based organizations in Mombasa.
Please feel free to contact us directly (rklamser@cricon.org) if you have questions or desire additional information.