Vocal Africa has intensified efforts to promote peace and security among young people in Busia County.
And to meet this objective, the organization is using sports as a platform to sensitize the youth and communities on the need to shun violence and maintain peaceful coexistence.
Speaking during a sports tournament at Masebula Primary School in Butula Sub county, Mitchelle Ijai from Vocal Africa said: “We have come together to sensitize the youth on peace and the importance of security. Having such tournaments brings together the community and youth to have conversations on security and other matters, which forms a foundation on how to prevent the rise of insecurity and maintain peace.”
Ijai said Vocal Africa plans to extend the peace and security sensitization programme to other parts of the country to reach more young people. She said the initiative was timely as the country approaches the electioneering period, warning that increased political activities could expose young people to manipulation and involvement in violence.
“As we are coming closer to the electioneering period and experiencing increased cases of goonism that mostly involve youth, we saw it as the right time to have such conversation. The tournament has just begun and we are intending to reach all over the country because insecurity is high in the country,” she said.
Ijai also called on security agencies to take decisive action against individuals causing insecurity. “The police need to do much to ensure they stop the emerging cases of goonism. Let them take responsibility by ensuring all those involved are arrested and charged. This will create more awareness in the community and help discourage those who may get involved,” she said.
Rainskin Oyugi also from Vocal Africa raised concern over the state of human rights in Busia, saying stronger measures are needed to protect young people and other members of the community. “The status of human rights in Busia County needs to be worked on because lately we have experienced cases of young people being killed, some of whom were killed by police,” he said.
Oyugi urged young people to reject violence and avoid being used by political leaders for selfish interests.
On his part, Dream for Life Foundation founder Christopher Omondi said engaging young people in constructive activities was important in preventing crime and other forms of indiscipline.
Omondi said the generational disconnect between young people and older members of society had contributed to some of the challenges facing communities, adding that sports provided an avenue for bringing the two groups together.
“Most of the time there is a gap between the youth and parents, and the disconnect leads to increased cases of indiscipline in the community. We want to keep our youth engaged so that they are not used. We want to help them by nurturing their talents, which in future can be their source of livelihood,” he said.
He added that the tournament had brought together teams from Busia and neighbouring Siaya County, strengthening interaction and peaceful coexistence among communities living along the county border.
Youth participant Michael Otieno called for more initiatives targeting young people, saying continuous engagement could help address drug abuse, crime and other social challenges.
“My call is that we have many such tournaments to save many of our young people. The challenge we have here is drug addiction and disco matanga, which is ruining the lives of many youths. Continuous conversation and engagement with the youth will help address such behaviours. Let’s make use of our talents so that we can earn a living from them rather than engage in crime,” he said.
Coach Sammie Odinga said sports had provided an effective avenue for reaching young people with messages of peace while giving them an opportunity to showcase their talents.
“Majority of youth are affected in this area and by having such initiatives, we are going to create more awareness among our youth so that they can do constructive work rather than engage in crime. Many youths have turned up and this has created a better opportunity for them to display the talents they have,” he said.
The peace tournament was organized by Vocal Africa and Dream for Life Foundation organizations.
By Salome Alwanda and Rodgers Omondi
