Politicians should stop using young people to fight their wars

**Goons along Koinange Street, Nairobi, during protests to demand justice for the late Albert Ojwang who died in police custody, on June 17, 2025.** [Kanyiri Wahito, Standard]

So, an elected leader stands up in public to rally young people to go to Nairobi and defend the government against protesters? Media reports show that several high-profile leaders are actively recruiting young people to “go defend the government.” Defend the government against what? Well, I assume being insiders, they know more than the general public.

We have lately been treated to bizarre but true episodes of leaders shamelessly taking charge of the streets with goons. What exactly is the message beyond the words they utter in public? And, what else is going on in the dark?

I know the police have soiled their name through rogue officers. But, I have no reason to doubt the police's capacity to handle street chaos were demos it to degenerate into that. Strangely, it seems they need more support. They need goons as backup. Is our police force too small? Are the police poorly trained? To put it the other way, are the goons trained better than our police? Is this a strategy to shield rogue police from culpability? What evidence do we have that our armed forces are unable to ensure peaceful demonstrations and protests? I don’t know any.

Let me return to my thesis. For an elected leader or any other person in a senior position to exploit young people to protect a political agenda violently is beyond comprehension. Jesus Christ has a very unkind message for this category of leaders. Let us read Matthew 18:6: “If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were fastened around your neck and you were drowned in the depth of the sea.” Arguably, money can buy anyone and anything. However, buying young people to battle other young people means we have no humanity left in us. We are using other people as objects to achieve our end.

The reason we have a police service and all uniformed officers is to protect us and keep everyone safe, including those protesting and those who prefer to stay away. When we start running parallel forces to, ironically, protect us, we demean the office and status of the police. We are simply telling them they are unequal to the task. We are undermining their job while at the same time expecting them to take responsibility for the crimes that goons commit. In the process, we lose sight of the bigger picture of holding the police accountable for the crimes committed by their rogue officers. Respected police officers do not wear balaclavas to enforce the law. This is a sign that something is going wrong within our institutions.

Beyond demeaning the work of the police by such unnecessary “back-ups”, it is pure exploitation of the weak to achieve personal gratification. Yes, we need money. Yes, we need power. Yes, we need a high social status. But we cannot justify exploiting the poor in such an inhumane manner to achieve all these desires. For decades, the habit of using the poor and the innocent, such as young people frustrated in life, as tools of political wars has destroyed the lives and hopes of many people. Both those outside government in the name of the Opposition and the government should find it within themselves to leave young people alone. Let them engage in their political combat without dragging in young people seeking identity and a sense of belonging. Again, scripture is highly intolerant of such people. “… woe to that one by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that one not to have been born.”

For us to live in peace amidst a world with many wars, both micro and macro, we must start by strengthening our institutions of governance, rather than undermining them. Leaders who begin radicalising young people against one another are planting the seeds of future chaos and anarchy. They are destroying the foundations of a peaceful and prosperous nation. Kenya is our only home.

Dr Mokua is Executive Director of Loyola Centre for Media and Communication