More than 60 youth in Kwale county are set to benefit from a six-month mentorship programme organised by Human Development Agenda organisation.
The programme aims to step up the fight against the region's increased crime rate and address challenges facing the youth.
Msambweni, Matuga and Lunga-Lunga subcounties have been on the police radar as youth in the county are linked to drugs smuggling, terrorism and criminal gangs that commit theft and terrorise residents using machetes and pangas.
Recently, Diani and Ukunda recorded a series of insecurities, mostly attempted robberies.
Early this month, two suspects were shot dead by police as they tried to commit a robbery in Ukunda.
Last week, a youth was lynched by an angry mob following a botched robbery at one of the shops in Tiwi, within Matuga constituency.
HUDA officer Kashi Jermaine said the programme seeks to counsel and guide young people from falling prey to bad company.
"Youth go astray because they lack advice and good role models to emulate, so we intend to bridge that gap," he said.
Jermaine said being idle and lack of employment opportunities could be attributed to the rising crime among the youth.
He said with the six-month mentorship programme, they intend to identify and nurture the hidden talents that the youth possess to generate income.
"We realised that youth are talented, we have singers, footballers, cooks, technicians but they have messed up their lives because no one is advising them," he said.
Similar interventions were taken by the National Cohesion and Integration Commission in partnership with the Samba Sports Youth Agenda that uses sports to curb terrorism activities in the Coast region.
-Edited by SKanyara
