Haki Africa official Salma Hemed during a past media briefing. [Photo/ nation.co.ke]
A human rights lobby has launched a community security forum in Old Town, Mombasa in a bid to quell rising insecurity in the area.The forums, initiated by Haki Africa have been on-going for the last two weeks with an aim of enhancing security in the area.Haki Africa official Salma Hemed said the forums will also involve counselling sessions for the affected youth and their parents.Hemed said since the launch of the security forums, security in Old Town has been heightened with no cases of insecurity being reported.She said the forums were received well by the community and police officers were working closely with the organisation to curb insecurity in the area.“We have recruited over 60 youth some of who are reformed criminals,” said Hemed.She said parents of the reformed youth are also being guided and assisted to take their parenting responsibilities seriously.“We have counselling sessions once a week where in the morning we meet youth and in the afternoon we engage their parents,” she said.Yusuf Mohammed, a peer educator, said more youth are now interested in taking part in the weekly security forums which have created a bond between community members, human rights activists and police officers.Nuria Abdillah, whose son is a reformed criminal, lauded the forums, saying they slowly transforming youth in the area.“We thank Haki Africa for the initiative. The community has taken charge of the security situation in the area and we are saving our children,” she said.