President William Ruto has called on parents to actively instill moral values in their children, highlighting this as a critical step in curbing rising insecurity, criminal activities, and social vices across the country.
Speaking at AIC Kipkorgot Church in Uasin Gishu County on Sunday, December 22, 2024, Ruto linked the surge in crime to a failure by parents and religious leaders to impart strong moral principles to the younger generation.
“The government of Kenya cannot parent your children. Every parent must do their job and look after their children. The government cannot preach to our children, teach them the word of God, or show them what is good for them,” Ruto stated, urging parents to embrace proactive parenting and mentorship.
The President emphasized that the government’s role is to enforce laws and address criminal activities. However, he noted that preventing crime starts at home through proper guidance and moral upbringing by parents and religious leaders.
“I urge religious leaders to preach to our children, teach them the word of God, and mentor them. The government cannot preach in church. Our job is to deal with criminals, but these criminals emerge because parents fail to mentor their children, and churches fail to instill good morals,” he said.
Ruto dismissed the effectiveness of blame games, calling on both parents and the church to take responsibility.
“Finger-pointing and blame games will not solve these issues. The church blames the government, and parents blame the government for responsibilities that are theirs. It is the responsibility of parents and the church to instill morals and good manners in our children,” he stated.
He also addressed public calls for the government to take harsher action against criminals, pointing out the root cause of the problem.
“Many people are encouraging us to arrest these people, must jail these people, and it is okay but the time we jail these people and arrest them. We are dealing with a very bad situation the criminals in all these places are our children coming from our homes and it us to stop them from being criminals by mentoring them, parenting them teaching them the word of God,” he added.
