Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen / HANDOUTInterior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has called for greater involvement of students in national security and peace-building initiatives.
Murkomen said institutions of higher learning face unique security challenges that require their participation.
Murkomen said the Jukwaa la Wasomi programme is a student-led national initiative on mediation and preventive security being implemented in learning institutions across the country.
The programme is anchored within the Jukwaa la Usalama Framework and is delivered by the Universities and Colleges Students' Peace Association of Kenya.
“When I started Jukwaa la Usalama last year, even the first forum, and I've seen the County Commission of Mombasa is here, we didn't have students; we didn't invite students, because initially, we just went into the conversation about security,” Murkomen said.
“It was an idea that we kept perfecting as we progressed. But after two, three sessions, we realised that everywhere we went where students and student institutions were located, certain unique challenges can directly be attributed to the presence of institutions of higher learning and colleges within the society where we are.”
Murkomen said the rapid expansion of Technical and Vocational Training Institutions (TVETs) in recent years had also created new dynamics for communities hosting the institutions.
He cited the growth of institutions in areas that were previously villages, saying some colleges that had about 500 students less than five years ago now have populations of up to 10,000 students.
According to Murkomen, the growing student populations have had an impact on surrounding communities, with security concerns emerging around institutions of higher learning.
He said participants in the Jukwaa la Usalama forums had raised concerns over inadequate street lighting, drug peddling and the sale of adulterated alcohol targeting students.
It was following these discussions that the organisers decided to make students part of the forums.
“It is after two or three sessions of Jukwaa la Usalama in three countries that we said, no, every forum must involve the students.'" We must invite the students from the colleges around the countries,” Murkomen said.
He said students subsequently began participating in the sessions and presenting issues affecting them, leading to the establishment of Jukwaa la Wasomi as an offshoot of the Jukwaa la Usalama forums.
Murkomen also commended Principal Secretary for Internal Security Raymond Omollo for supporting the linkage between the student-led initiative and ministry structures.
He said the ministry had received a request to institutionalise Jukwaa la Wasomi and pledged to establish a framework for its institutionalisation and mainstreaming within the ministry.
“I have been requested today that one of the requests was to institutionalise Jukwala Osomi. And I want to say that within the next two weeks, we will have put in place a framework for proper institutionalisation of Jukwala Wasomi and mainstreaming it in the ministry,” Murkomen said.
He added that the process would involve consultations with the Cabinet Secretary for Education and the Cabinet Secretary for Health, particularly on matters concerning Kenya Medical Training Colleges (KMTCs) across the country.
Murkomen said the initiative would strengthen collaboration between students, learning institutions, communities and government agencies in addressing security challenges.
