By Kamau Njoroge
A tiff pitting management of a school in Thika West constituency and a group of local youths over a playground is threatening to thwart efforts to rehabilitate them from crime, alcohol and drug abuse.
The over 200 youths from Athena village, which borders Kiandutu slums, have been using the playfield at Athena primary school for sporting activities and with the help of well-wishers, they have managed to reduce indulgence in anti-social vices including crime, brewing and consumption of outlawed liquor (Chang’aa) as well as substance abuse.
The youth have formed a football club known as Athena Kings FC and through the support of some partners they have managed to cruise from the sub-county level to the Football Kenya Federation (FKF) National Division Two league.
However, the group has raised concerns after the school management ordered them not to set foot in the school playground, which is the only public playfield in the area.
According to the team coach Paul Onyango, the school management last week sent them a message warning them that legal action will be taken against them should they fail to heed to the orders.
“We were born and raised in this village and we have been playing on this field for years. We have managed to bring together many youth who were in crime and other illegal activities and the vices have drastically reduced in this village. We are however worried that some individuals are busy planning to push the youth back to the shackles of criminal activities, drugs and alcoholism,” said Onyango.
Onyango said that they were told that there is a cholera outbreak in the area and therefore they should not go anywhere within the precincts of the school.
“That’s the only reason they gave us for barring us from accessing the playground,” he said.
He noted that they are privy to information that the school management has entered into an agreement with a local firm to have their staff members train in the field at a fee of Ksh 5,000 per session.
“This is why they are pushing us out because they also want us to pay some money to be allowed into the playfield. They are kicking us out at the peril of the youths who will in turn be idle and start causing mayhem in the village,” he said.
Onyango noted that the sporting activities they have been engaging in have reduced idleness among the youth and restored sanity in the village, which was once known to be a den of crime.
Albert Maguru, a resident and businessman who is among those rehabilitating the youth through sports rebuked the move by the school to bar them from using the playfield saying that it will only breed disorder within the village.
He noted that they have been engaging the youth through sports in a bid to rehabilitate them from anti-social ills as well as nurturing and developing talents as they seek more avenues for them to make a decent living.
“We are shocked that the school management is out to make money through the playground at the expense of the local youths who are trying to transform their lives. We are pleading with the relevant authorities to intervene and ensure that the facility is used to help members of the community,” said Maguru.
Purity Wanjiku, a resident said that they have witnessed massive transformation of the youths since they started engaging in sports activities in the village adding that denying them access to the playfield will render them idle which will in turn force them to crime, drugs and alcoholism.
“Most of them have even started they own families because of the transformation they have undergone. Locking them out of the playfield will do more harm than good to them and the entire village,” she said.
They called on local leaders including Governor Kimani Wamatangi and MP Alice Ng’ang’a to intervene and address the matter.
However, a member of the school management who requested anonymity said that they had directed the youth not to use the playground during the examination period.
“We don’t want interference during the examination process that’s why we told them not to use the playground,” he said.
But Coach Onyango said that the youth are in agreement with the school management that they will only be using the playfield from 5.30 in the evening.
“We agreed on time because we too understand that that there will be ongoing examinations,” said Onyango.
Maguru said the school should support this noble course of giving the youths hope and even go an extra mile to sponsor them or assist them get sponsorships to further their talents.
