There is a worrying mushrooming of criminal gangs – composed of young people below 25 years – armed with guns and knives, thirst for bundles of cash and unquenchable courage to grab.
The numbers are increasing in cities and towns, and the informal settlements are a fertile breeding ground. They are not defined by ethnicity or gender. Just recently there were news of a teenage girl who walked to a man and demanded a phone and cash. The man laughed it off and continued walking thinking that this young girl, the age of his daughter was joking.
She stabbed him repeatedly and made away with the phone and cash. He died that day while undergoing treatment.
Many are arrested in swoops and thrown in prison. Many are shot dead.
PERSPECTIVE: Nearly 80% of Kenyans are less than 35 years old. More than 70% of them have no formal employment.
There are approximately 51,000 inmates in all prisons countrywide. Over 50% of all the convicted criminals are young people aged between 16 and 25 years. The prisons cost the government about 15 million shillings daily.
Due to the high costs and inadequate resources (hence overcrowding et al), it is difficult to rehabilitate inmates jailed for shorter sentences. Subsequently, the recidivism rates are very high.
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