Every county should have a National Youth Service training college to accommodate the ballooning number of youths seeking to undergo the government sponsored trainings.
Selected Nandi residents while responding to the National taskforce on Police, Prisons and NYS Reforms argued that despite government effort to recruit thousands of youths to NYS training every year, many qualified young men were still left out due to the highly competitive recruitment exercise.
They recommended that having an NYS college in every county will give more youths in the country an opportunity to undergo the coveted course which has shaped the lives of the youths through different courses and general life skills associated with the course.
“It is now difficult to join NYS training just like other discipline forces because the numbers of youths who seek recruitment has increased,” Stella Ruto, a business person in Kapsabet town told the Former Chief Justice David Maraga led taskforce at Administration Police Chapel in Kapsabet town.
Ruto however thanked the government for its continued effort to equip thousands of youths with necessary fields through NYS training.
“Our government only needs to expand the training to accommodate more youths without compromising with the quality of training,” Ruto suggested.
Edwin Bor, also a resident in Kapsabet town added that, just like other devolved functions of government, the NYS trainings should be felt at the grassroots to deny youth’s chances of idleness which always results in alcoholism and drug addiction.
While embracing President William Ruto’s pronouncement of recruiting 30 per cent from NYS to disciplined forces, the residents asked the government to deal with corruption which denies many qualified youths opportunities in discipline forces.
In his remarks, Justice Maraga, who is the chair, agreed that the taskforce had received the call for NYS training colleges in different counties they had visited and that the county governments should be prepared to set aside land which will accommodate the colleges if the recommendations are adopted.
Former Chief Justice however regretted that the number of youths engaged in alcohol and other forms of unruly behavior had reached an alarming level in the country and that it needed a collective effort to tame it.
Through his reforms led taskforce, Maraga emphasized that the government was collecting opinions from residents across the country on how they can make NYS more vibrant, accommodative while equipping the youths with skills against reckless alcoholism and idleness.
Maraga poked holes on modern parenting which emphasizes on academics and work which deprives children of an opportunity to learn morals from their parents at a tender age.
According to him, there was a lot children at a certain age learn from their parents, a gap he emphasized will ruin them as they advance with their ages.
The reforms taskforce chair asked leaders in Nandi to use professional counsellors to talk to parents and youths during public gatherings as a way of strengthening parenting and also discouraging youths from alcohol and drugs.
On youth mental wellness, Maraga revealed that the reforms taskforce will make recommendations on how to strengthen mental wellness among the youths.
Nandi County Commissioner Caroline Mueni in her speech also agreed that having NYS training camp within the county will salvage thousands of youths who are idle in villages from the menace of drugs and alcoholism.
By Geoffrey Satia
