With the proposed free high school education program, we are going to have more high-school educated people who cannot get a higher education nor find a good job.
These people will need to be occupied if Kenya is to avert its worsening security crisis.
In 2006, about a quarter of a million students sat for KCSE, and slightly less than 700,000 sat for KCPE. Assuming that the same number sit for KCPE in 2007, and with free secondary education 85% of them sit for KSCE, we are looking at 595,000 high school graduates in 2012 that will need to be accommodated. With an already saturated college scenario, we are potentially looking at several hundred thousand young people with a KCSE certificate and nowhere to go.
The current work force can only absorb so many high school graduates and the jua kali opportunities are limited. This could spiral into a situation where we have whole generations who feel disenfranchised and indifferent towards the idea of a common Kenyan brotherhood. The government has to find a way to turn these unaccommodated youth into responsible adults and upstanding citizens or risk loosing control of an already fragile situation with subversive ideologies like the Mungiki's taking hold.
This is why I think our politicians should consider implementing a national conscription program. This will instill a sense of national pride and responsibility towards our country and will help foster the kind of discipline and culture in our youth that will be antithetical to corruption and tribalism.
The mandatory draft should include high school graduates over the age of 18 with a cut off age of 21, for both males and females. Exceptions could be made for those who register in a college or institution of further learning within a year after high school completion and those who are incapable of serving for medical, physical or religious reasons or other substantial reasons. Conscription for this national service could be for a compulsory 2 years with an option for reenlistment at the time of completion for a total of 4 years. It could be converted to college credit or other useful commendations with enlistment being a prerequisite for getting a national ID before the age of 21.
Many countries today require mandatory service from their citizens at a specified age including Austria, Denmark, Egypt, Finland and Israel. There are many areas that a national guard service can be useful to the country. For example they could help build infrastructure like roads and bridges, help fight pollution and urban waste with reforestation and reclamation activities, assist in humanitarian aid in impoverished or natural disaster stricken areas, get involved in social outreach projects, the list is endless.
The draftees would be given military training but would not be required to get directly involved in combat or policing duties unless in an extreme situation like an attack from another country or a state of emergency. Most countries reserve the right to call up citizens to involuntary military labor in times of crises like the defense of sovereign soil. It is not far fetched to look at some of the ills currently affecting Kenya as direct attacks on Kenya's sovereignty, and a force such as this would be a great asset in 'defending' Kenya.
This group would strictly be a supplemental force that would compliment the security forces of Kenya but conduct some of the more socio-economical activities that government is responsible for. We would still retain professional armed forces with Army, Navy and Air Force divisions.
This is the duty of our generation in the twenty-first century, we have to find ways to resolve our complex issues and create the opportunity for a better life for our children. If we express the desire to collectively rise above our constraints then we could succeed in creating a society where members will define themselves not by their own identity but by that of others. It is our moral obligation to our young people that we give them a means of livelihood, and while a draft is not a permanent solution, it is a start.
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What we should be thinking about is whether we actually have sufficient enemies to warrant a huge force and if so, whether the men we have in arms today can defent this country. Alternatively, consideration should be given to the Spade Army (the NYS) to undergo the military training as a reserve force.
However if the issue is to inculcate patriotism and responsibility, then this should be included as part of teh education curriculum.
The danger with training every 18 year old in the country on how to use a firearm and at the same time on completion of the training fail to provide a job is that we shall have started a breeding ground of criminals who actually know how to use a gun!! The Finns and the Israelis ensure that the guys get jobs which something the Kenya government cannot!