• Mvita hosts some hotspots of violent extremism 'perpetrated by youths known to many'.
• MP tells parents to rectify unruly behaviour before correctional facilities have to.
Mvita MP Abdulswamad Nassir is "a depressed man".
Nassir on Friday narrated how he gets calls from parents of unruly children asking him to talk to them on their behalf.
He said parents must take responsibility for their children no matter the circumstances.
"One of the most depressing issues is being approached by parents who ask me to talk to their children. They say their children do not listen to them anymore," Nassir said. He spoke during the graduation ceremony of a three-day training workshop for 36 community youth representatives, Mombasa county government officers and their national government counterparts.
The training programme dubbed 'Youth Justice and Peace Alliance Project', seeks to bring cooperation between the community, county and national governments in fighting vices including crime, violent extremism and radicalisation.
The training was organised by Haki Africa in partnership with Forum Syd.
Mvita hosts some of the hotspots of violent extremism and radicalisation, although the matters have drastically reduced owing to the many interventions put in place.
It is home to Old Town and Majengo, two of the areas where some of the most radical youth live.
However, Nassir said through the many interventions including the Skills Mitaani programme where youth are identified and their skills nurtured, change is slowly coming.
Haki Africa executive director Hussein Khalid said the main objective of the project is to solidify working relationships between both levels of government and the community.
Khalid said for any society to prosper, there must be peace and justice."Peace starts with you and me. All must take part in building peace."
Morality, he said, is what lets down parents.
He said most of the insecurity incidents reported are perpetrated by the youth who are known to many.
"We don't report them yet they live with us," Khalid said.
Nassir backed his remarks saying, "We have to accept that as a society our values are decaying. Morality levels are going down."
Mvita deputy county commissioner Charles Monari said drug abuse is what ails the county.
He said the introductory age for drug abuse in Mombasa is continuously going down with children as young as 11 getting hooked to drugs.
"These are statistics from the National Authority for the Campaign Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse and it is a worrying trend," Monari said.
He said the government's 100 per cent transition policy from primary school to second dart school will help curb drug abuse noting that dropping out of school is one of the causes and results of drug abuse.
Nassir said it is easier for parents to rectify wayward behaviour in their children than to have them rectified by correctional facilities.
"Even wild animals do not let their children go astray or get lost easily. They will do anything, including risking the other children's safety to ensure that the one that is about to go astray or be attacked are safe."
Edited by R.Wamochie