Enough opportunities for all Kenyans will stem crime

Youth crime is at alarming proportions today thanks to a combination of factors, key among them unemployment, social disintegration and poor policing. For a growing number of males in certain social levels, there are few avenues for advancement outside taking other people’s property by force. With no positive role models, prospects of work and a fair chance their crimes may go unpunished, many feel they can take their chances at a life in crime.

The true epidemic they cause, however, is not really in violent crimes like robbery, carjacking and murder, but lower level property crimes like vandalism of public and private property for scrap or involvement in the production and sale of illegal intoxicants. These are a strain on society that holds back its development and contribute to the high numbers of youth going to jail for minor offences.