this is news africa coming up in the next 15 minutes the struggle to rehab fighters from one of the world's most violent militant groups have terrorized east africa for many years killing many innocent people but some have turned their back on the minutes and group and somalia is offering them a chance to rejoin society. exclusively to some former ministers trying to come to terms with their violent past. 10 years ago was not able to look after himself because of his 5 polar disorder today he's helping others recover from their mental illness. i feel. for. i can recall my record.

i'm christine wonderwall come to africa i'm glad you achieved in these somali islamist extremist group al-shabaab has been waging a campaign of violence in somalia and large parts of east africa for more than a decade in somalia they're a mystery pays the u.n. backed government and impose islamic law and african union force has seized back control of the capital mogadishu. is still controlling around 20 percent of the country the government is offering amnesty and rehabilitation to militants who leave the. melanie core deval was given re x. is to one rehabilitation center in the province she spoke to form a minute since they about what they have decided or the why they have decided to leave. your name a positive for killing machine terrorizing somalia population but now they're asking for forgiveness it's the city. in juba land his home to 86 the young man who

used to fight for one of the deadliest islamist extremist groups in the world. here in southern somalia in a town once under siege by al shabaab a program is being implemented to rehabilitate once extremist fighters with the hope of peacefully reintegrating them into society. the former fighters here mostly men aged between 24 and 29 have been granted amnesty and are seeking a 2nd chance 2 of them are willing to share why they decided to defect. for their safety and security we have withheld the location and realized entity's by calling them and that he said was just 15 years old when he joined the group 5 years ago. at 1st people joined because the religion they say you are promoting religion but this is just a front actually killing innocent people for no reason or to fight it could be.

similarly joined at the age of 16 it took them 8 years to escape from the group. they also killed muslims in their tank when i saw my people dying i decided i had to break away of the. many men growing up in disenfranchised and poor parts of the country into joining for financial reasons and a sense that belonging. to address this these men now receive locational training in hands on group classes. i did not know how to live within society i learned that here i've learned how to support myself. but many here are still haunted by night men they struggle to fathom how they were capable of such. just 70 kilometers away from this no peaceful town peacekeepers mandated. the african union are still waging

a war against the militant group. but. it's the we have fought a lot and liberated several areas in the past 2 or 3 months. we are also working on a plan to liberate the areas still under the control of al-shabaab and hand them over to the somali army. to be. back at the rehab an occasion facility these young men receive professional psychological support. but above all it's companionship and leisure time that are helping them to overcome the trauma. but what we can talk to each other about all the things we've done wrong and give each other support about how not to fall back into our destructive ways. for somalia a hope for the birth of a united government and for my life i hope to work for the benefit of my country and for my people with the new skills he sent men to intend to make

a positive contribution to society again. to help other young people repeat them mistake of joining up in the 1st place. ok let's cross to the core of who you saw in that report she's now back in nairobi good to see you mel so tell us more about these rehabilitation centers how effective have these programs been. it seems like they are working very well of course it's impossible to get nationwide numbers we are still in a country which is experiencing an ongoing conflict but in the south of somalia almost $305.00 close former fighters have been in rehabilitation and are about to already have gone back into their communities to start a life there the government grants everyone amnesty who wants to leave the group so

there is some incentive to do that but it is very difficult to do so the group makes it very difficult the man i spoke to told me they would want numerous times that if they did leave their families would be punished or that they themselves would be killed so they are terrified every habit of retaliation they truly are but they did want to speak to us and tell us about their experience to inspire obvious to follow suit and to leave as well ok so they leave al-shabaab and presumably will go back into the communities how do so mali's feel about these people after the experiences with. i've spoken to a lot of people on the ground and everyone told me that they believe that granting amnesty that forgiveness that having programs such as this one and place is essential in order to build a future in somalia which is peaceful and in order to get rid of. for good but of course for people that is also surprising to say they have been at the receiving

end of tremendous amounts of violence i've spoken to a lot of women who told me that they witnessed their husbands being killed in front of their very eyes who have been on the run for you is who are struggling to go back to their villages which are still under control it was heartbreaking to see them crying and being desperate but at the same time it was beautiful to see that they do have hope and one of the reasons why they have hope is because there are programs such as this one in place ok and i guess i mean the somali government must count this is some success is when you take some of these fighters and you rehabilitate them successfully bring them back into the community but why have they not been having so much success in defeating al shabaab we understand they control about 20 percent of the country still. well numerous factors contributing to the strength of one of them being that in a country plagued by poverty also above has money in many ways you could refer to

them as the somali mafia they are able to extort money from the local population they have been making money from illegal charcoal production and export then of course there is also another factor contributing to that it's the weakness of the state which draws power from in many ways is able to provide services that the local government isn't and many somalis have to turn to these services in the absence of truong state institutions and finally yes there is an african union peacekeeping mission in the country which has been able to flush out a lot of al shabaab from major cities but at the same time experts are saying there are simply not enough troops in the country to get rid of the thousands of al shabaab vytas all right melanie corridor thank you for your reporting. on the story is in ghana with mental health care faces many challenges due to

stigma you're about to meet one young man bright star of you who was a bipolar disorder patient but he's now recovered and does providing care for other patients in his rural community and he's also working to change mindsets about mental health in gaza city you break hopes with house would trolls before heading to week simply because i'm able to do them years ago as he experienced extreme mood swings depression and aggressive behavior. his condition was sparked by this sudden news of his father's death in 2009 doctors diagnosed him as suffering from bipolar disorder. after undergoing treatment and therapy brights recovered in 2014 and trained as a nes he's now able to work again. wrestling is tough the acting has to patients at his community hospital he's happy to believe in

a normal life again. those days when it then happened towards to becoming the arab voices and seeing things bads now all those things are gone and now i need to do things as i was doing previously before the commission came in that i found very difficult to do a washing for myself in reading it trying to engage in social activities to keep myself active and i can do all those things right associates he's experienced says and helps with bipolar disorder different on weekdays at this center court room of plains to help the recovery process but he ended patients talk about the challenges living with being bipolar and how to deal with stigma wright story saves us motivation. and the stigma was just saw hard for me to get in out from that

state of mind i demea it's very very great to help others because dippin that i was going to was not so severe for me now when i see others going through similar tense and i had splits i feel so pathetic for them that no it shouldn't be like that's since i can recall i believe that it can also recall that in a gadda many people with bipolar disorder and neglected by the families but in came it's hopeless some of his patients recover quickly. or you are. i meant that in that and i use i come in as an added up so that means i will finish for me as to as to how to become what they want i want to go along with my. going to get his health service an estimated 4000000 kenyans suffered from mental health conditions in 2017 that's many of voice seeking help because of stigma health officials are not pushing for an end to discrimination to encourage those who

recover to retreats and help i think. we need to use community of these people with medical decisions because everybody come yes it did at any point in time we have the hopes historial for coverage from mental illness will encourage others to speak out and seek help oh about that. and that is if there's africa as catch all our stories. at our facebook page i'm on twitter at what. i'd like. to.

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