As illicit drugs continue to take a heavy toll on the youth in Migori County, parents now want the two levels of government in the area to assist in rehabilitating the victims.
They want the two governments to prioritise the establishment of a rehab centre that would help counsel and rehabilitate the wasted youth.
Mr. Daniel Obonyo, who narrated to KNA about his alcohol/drug-abusing son in Awendo town, pleaded with government officials from both the national and county levels to intervene urgently and set aside funds to construct a centre that will treat youth and all those abusing drugs of all kinds.
“I am asking those in the government to come out seriously to effectively address challenges of drug abuse, unemployment, and insecurity threatening to tear apart the economy of this area,” said Mr. Obonyo.
He blamed the high rate of alcoholism among the local youth on frustrations, saying most of them were highly educated but jobless.
Speaking in Migori town, Mrs. Angela Owiti, another resident, observed that most of the youth who abused drugs were from poor families, which could not finance such rehabilitation.
“The only facilities which can help rehabilitate these wasted talents are in Homa Bay and other far-flung areas, and the families have nothing to do but watch as their kin walk into the graves due to drug abuse,” Owiti lamented.
Former Migori County Council Chairman Geoffrey Odera argues that the youth should be considered for easy recruitment in the military and other national employment drives.
This, he said, will help the youth lead healthy lives and drop criminal activities that have dominated the area and led to a high rate of insecurity.
But Miss Pamela Ghati, a student at Rongo University, claimed that although the constitution guarantees fair treatment of the youth by the state, implementation of the stated rights to the youth has always been skewed against them.
She cited government bureaucracies, which she noted discriminate against the youth at the expense of their financial gains.
“The constitution indicates clearly that a third of the government contracts must be awarded to the youth. However, this has been only on paper, and the state has continued to abuse it, frustrating the youth, who only see abusing drugs and involving themselves in criminal acts as the alternative ventures in their attempt to release their stress,” said Miss Ghati.
By George Agimba
