The Mkenya Daima initiative, under the auspices of the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA), held a youth Leadership forum with a view to encourage the youths to practice good public relations, harmony and peaceful co-existence before, during and after the august 2022 general election.
Speaking Tuesday at a Nairobi Hotel, Mkenya Daima Chairman Dr. Vimal Shah encouraged the youths to participate in electing transformative leaders who embrace the ideals of transparency, accountability, integrity and good governance as critical ingredients of national progress and prosperity.
“Every Citizen has a role to vote in good leaders based on their track record. Leadership is about trust which is formed on integrity, intent, competency and results. If any of them is Zero, then trust is missing. The candidates who lose the election and are not satisfied with the results should not promote violence, but should present the case to the court of law,” said the chairman.
Dr. Vimal added that there was need for the youths to make a commitment to create peace and abide by the due process.
Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) Director of Voter Education, Partnerships and communications Rasi Masudi stated that the youths can be effective peace ambassadors as they are energetic when it comes to campaigns.
“The youths should embrace opportunities offered within the electoral process including election observers, poll officials, voting, campaigning for preferred candidates, lobbying for relevant legislation and fostering post elections harmony,” he said.
Masudi pointed out that the youths have a voice and when they speak people listen, hence they should be advocates of change and reforms.
National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) Deputy Director Public outreach and engagement Killan Nyambu commended young people who have formed groups that advocate for peaceful polls and educates the general public on the importance of voting in good leaders.
“We should be optimistic that in this election we will get it right. Our expectations as a commission is that there will be no violence and that citizens will adhere to the rule of law,” he said.
Nyambu urged the youth to be patriotic and that they should report to the relevant authorities when signs of violence emerge.
He advised the youths to refrain from being merchants of fake news on social media as they can trigger violence.
National Youth Council (NYC) Head of partnership and Resource Mobilization Veridiana Wasike called upon the young people to recognize institutions empowering them to be leaders, since they are custodians of this nation and it is their responsibility to lead the country well.
“We need to be very keen when we are talking about youth leadership.We need to begin to be leaders in plans and policies because that is where you are going to secure another generation.The youth should read, study and get the information right to avoid the mob justice mentality caused by uninformed decisions,” said Wasike.
Chair KEPSA Gender Sector Board Mucha Mlingo stated that the collapse of order during elections leads to an increase in violence against women and it should stop.
She advised the young people to avoid politics of division that escalate to violence and vote in leaders who will put in policies against gender based and sexual violence.
National Students’ Caucus chairman Maxwell Magawi stated that the young people should not be deceived into being taken hostage by the politicians and instead should have a collective position that they will protect the nation.
Technical University of Kenya (TUK) student president Peter Mani said that there was need to involve the youth in national politics, since they make up the largest percentage in the country’s population.
“The youths have been offered opportunities by both the private and public sector to air out their opinions on the current national affairs,” Mani said.
By Wambui Muthoni and Rita Muthoni
