NYS is a political militia group, ODM claims

Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) has labelled the National Youth Service (NYS) as a Jubilee machinery used to cause tension and anxiety in the country.

In a statement signed by the party chair John Mbadi, ODM said that the demonstrations on Monday in the streets of Nairobi confirmed fears that the ‘rebranded NYS’ is not the NYS started in 1960s to provide services to the society.

“The group of hired Kenyans donning NYS t-shirts clearly confirmed our worst fears that the so called ‘rebranded NYS’ is not the NYS that was started in the 1960’s to provide services to the society but a militia aimed at causing tension and anxiety in the country,” read part of the statement.

Mbadi also alleged that the billions of shillings allocated to the Devolution and Planning Ministry are spend on empowering NYS “for reasons only known to Jubilee government”.

The party called for a full audit of NYS and Devolution Ministry’s expenditure including confidential budgets, curriculum, ethnic and gender composition and all contracts entered into by the organisation.

“The Auditor General must unravel the hidden expenditures, behind the scenes dealings that include the importation of sugar and rice through the free port of Kismayu whose deliveries to the NYS headquarters are done at night or on weekends. No wonder the refusal by Jubilee administration to withdraw our KDF troupes from Somalia”.

ODM also questioned the ethnic and gender composition of the recruitment to the NYS saying a particular ethnic group is being favoured with the intention of propagating violence in the run-up to the 2017 elections.

“It is becoming clear to Kenyans that the so-called ‘new-look’ NYS, as we have been warned, is a political youth militia in the making. East and Central Africa has a horrific history with these kinds of groups,” read the statement.

“History teaches us that when governments train political paramilitary youth militias, it is a precursor to violence on a scale that we should view with trepidation and resist with the greatest determination.”

ODM accused the protestors of locking traffic, damaging vehicles and intimidating pedestrians whose physical features were perceived to indicate that they hailed from an ethnic group other than that of the President.

Even as they expressed their support for the right of Kenyans to demonstrate, the party condemned all acts of political hooliganism.

“As leaders, we strongly defend the right of Kenyans to demonstrate as this is their constitutional right. However, we condemn all acts of political hooliganism regardless of which party they claim to support including ours”.