By Agnetta Okwemba
Matuga youths have pledged to support police officers in ensuring that security is maintained in all areas of Kwale county.
During the meeting organized by the Muslim Women Advancements of Rights and Protection (MWARP), they said that getting to the root cause of insecurity in some parts of the region will be their priority and help police to end the same.
This follows the recent cases of attacks by Juvenile gangs in Kwale county that has caused fear among the residents, more so the business community that has been targeted.
In Diani about 26 juvenile gang suspects between the age of 14-21 were arrested following a thorough hunt for the panga boys recently.
According to MWARP organization’s officer Fahad Changi, the efforts will help in eliminating the existing differences between the youth and police officers that will lead to concerted efforts to help in curbing insecurity.
“During our conversations, we saw that the two sides had questions for each other,” he said.
Tsimba Golini Youth Representative Mwanakombo Gonga claimed that the main barrier with supporting the police is that the society has a negative picture of them other than their initial roles of maintaining security.
“There are a lot of propagandas regarding the police in our societies. They are seen as bad people with a short temper approach,” she said.
Changi explained that the youth raised issues of increased abduction as well as corruption going on within the police officers while police apportion blame to the youths as perpetrators of the crimes incidents reported including drug abuse and theft.
MWARP coordinator, Mwalimu Ali said that the organization’s focus is restoration of peace and harmony in the society.
“After this sitting, we have been able to see that we should join hands in preaching peace,” he said.
They described this as a wakeup call not just for the youth but for everybody to be part of the security restoration agenda.
Residents are urged to come up with ways on how they can support police to end crime.
