Parents urged to reclaim mentorship role as govt strengthens youth education and Security

• Nairobi Regional Commissioner Rhoda Nyaboke Onyancha has urged parents to reclaim their mentorship role, stressing that Kenya’s future depends on collective responsibility beyond security agencies.
• She has emphasised that education has remained the country’s greatest investment, calling on parents to instil discipline, integrity, and respect while guiding youth away from unlawful activities.
• Onyancha has assured Nairobi residents that security operations have been intensified, adding that a safer capital has inspired confidence for education, business, and national development.

Nairobi Regional Commissioner Rhoda Nyaboke Onyancha has called on parents to reclaim their central role in guiding Generation Z and Millennials, stressing that Kenya’s future depends not only on security agencies but also on families, schools, religious leaders, and communities working together to raise disciplined and responsible citizens.

Speaking during a radio interview, Onyancha described education as the country’s greatest investment and urged stakeholders to safeguard learning at all levels, from Early Childhood Development Education (ECDE) through primary, junior and senior schools, Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions, colleges, and universities. She emphasised that while young people possess creativity, innovation, technological skills, and entrepreneurial potential, these strengths must be matched with mentorship, discipline, and moral guidance.

The Regional Commissioner expressed concern that responsibilities traditionally carried out within families are increasingly being left to schools, counsellors, religious leaders, and government institutions. She insisted that these institutions cannot replace the influence of parents in shaping character, values, and responsible behaviour. “The home remains the first classroom while parents remain the first teachers,” she said, urging mothers and fathers to spend more time counselling their children, monitoring friendships and online activities, and providing emotional support.

Onyancha noted that many youths who end up in conflict with the law often lack consistent mentorship. She encouraged parents to instil values such as integrity, discipline, respect, hard work, patriotism, and respect for the rule of law, saying these remain the foundation of peaceful families and a stable nation. She further urged parents to encourage children to remain committed to education, innovation, entrepreneurship, sports, and other productive pursuits instead of being manipulated into unlawful activities.

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She also challenged political leaders to exercise responsibility by refraining from exploiting unemployed youth for political interests. Sponsoring violence, intimidation, or vandalism, she warned, only exposes young people to arrests, injuries, interrupted education, and lost opportunities. Protecting schools, teachers, and learners, she said, must remain a national priority because education is the strongest foundation for development.

Onyancha lamented that many youths are sacrificing their education and future careers by engaging in unlawful activities. She urged parents to know their children’s friends, monitor their movements, understand the pressures they face, and remain actively involved to prevent manipulation into crime or confrontations with security agencies.

She reiterated that securing Nairobi is a national responsibility, noting that the capital serves as Kenya’s administrative, commercial, diplomatic, educational, and financial hub. A peaceful Nairobi, she said, inspires confidence across the country, attracts investment, promotes tourism, strengthens businesses, and safeguards thousands of learning institutions hosting learners from every county.

“We need a safer Nairobi because it sets the pace for the rest of the country. When Nairobi is peaceful, secure, and orderly, it creates confidence for all Kenyans and provides an environment where education, business, innovation, and national development can flourish,” she said.

Expressing confidence in ongoing security operations, Onyancha assured residents that comprehensive plans have been put in place to protect lives, property, businesses, and educational institutions. She concluded by urging parents to mentor their children, political leaders to champion peace, and young people to remain focused on education, hard work, and responsible citizenship.

By Hillary Muhalya

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