Former juvenile gang member out to empower other youth

At first sight, Menza Mghendi, 24, appears to be a composed and focused kid; one would never guess that he was formerly a part of a juvenile gang.

Mghendi, born and raised in a poor community in Mtomondoni, Kilifi County, prioritised having adequate food as a teenager, something his single mother could not give him.

When Mghendi was eleven years old, he started petty thieving to meet his requirements.

"I started stealing when I was in class five. We were a gang of approximately twelve children who would break into people's farms and take valuables like fruits and chicken," Mgendi recalled.

After six months of theft, at the age of eleven, he left school to concentrate on earning money.

"After the second term break, I never went back to school, I dropped out in class five because of pressure from my friends who were all school dropouts and some had never set foot in a classroom," he said.

The sprouting juvenile gang soon began to mug unsuspecting people on the Mombasa-Malindi highway.

Mghendi claimed he had been a juvenile offender for two and a half years before being rescued by his mother.

"We had not started using machetes, we used to attack pedestrians in a dark corner and sometimes snatch their bags. We operated mostly in the morning hours and evenings," he said.

When asked why they chose such times, Mghendi explained that it was because there were fewer people on the road in the morning and evening.

"The risk of being caught is low during these times because there are fewer people, allowing us to strike and escape," he explained, adding that they used clubs and rubber belts to attack uncooperative victims.

He realised it was time to reform after witnessing his friend being lynched by a mob.

Kigen Korir, Programs Specialist at UNFPA with Menza Mghendi and Kiti Chigiri Madvocate CBO, the winners under the SRHR category. (Photo: Alex Mburu)

"I would say we were lucky because, for the two and a half years of mugging people, we were never caught in the act, like someone would identify one of us and report us to our parents but for lack of evidence we got away. However, one day a friend of mine was caught robbing an M-Pesa shop, he was beaten mercilessly and the mob lynched him," said Mghendi.

Returned to school

It was heartbreaking to see his friend getting beaten but he could do nothing to save him. After being confronted by his mother and the police, he promised to never engage in criminal activities. He was returned to school after being absent for two years.

"I got readmitted in class five at Mtomondoni primary school where I did my KCPE, before joining Machakos Boys High School," he said.

He is currently a third-year student at Coast General KMTC in Mombasa, studying clinical medicine.

Looking back, Mghendi, the fifth child in a family of nine, claims that his upbringing led him to commit crimes. When he was six years old, his parents separated, and he was raised by his mother, who had to work more than twelve hours a day to feed them.

"There was no one to take care of us despite us living with our maternal uncles and aunts, also seven of my uncles were drug addicts. Most of my cousins and sisters were teen moms. We never had a role model to mentor us," he said.

Mghendi says his goal is to save as many youths as possible from such vices. He is a founder of the Madvocate initiative where he helps recovery drug addicts, reformed criminals, and teen moms with psychosocial support.

Through his initiative he has managed to help teen moms get the skills to earn a living and support their children. Mghendi says when he is not in school, he is out in the community looking for youth to rescue.

He believes that empowering the young will lead to a decline in social vices, as many engage in them to earn a living or to relieve stress from a lack of ways to support themselves.

Mghendi said he wants to change the narrative of his home village where teen pregnancies, drug addiction, and crime are prevalent.

"Many dreams have been shattered because of teen pregnancies and drug addiction but I want to change the narrative of this place so that we can improve our lives and the next generation," he said

The campaign focuses on four villages in Kilifi County: Mikanjuni, Mtomondoni, Mzambarauni, and Mwavitswa, all of which have high rates of crime and teen pregnancy. He stated that through his initiative, he has discovered that there are girls in juvenile gangs. Furthermore, he advises the government to embrace and encourage rehabilitated criminals and drug users as they embark on their rehabilitation journey.

"Lack of support has pushed many reformed criminals and addicts to relapse," he said.