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Youths should desist from any form of violence as the country prepares for the August 9 polls.

Music Copyright Society of Kenya chief executive Ezekiel Mutua yesterday said politicians should stop taking advantage of desperate youths by hiring them to perpetrate violence.

“We are telling our young people to be on standby and watch any leader who will try to incite them. It is high time they vet all leaders and associate themselves with a leader who addresses their concerns not handouts,” he said.

He was speaking during a forum bringing together young people from various universities dubbed Nairobi ni yetu peace campaigns. He urged the youth to realize that politicians who use them to perpetuate violence have no agenda for them.

“They will use them to ascend to power and that is it,” Mutua said. Speaking in the same forum, Chair Kenya Private Universities Association Marco Laboso said they are already engaged with the National Cohesion and Integration Commission to ensure young people are recruited to work as peace ambassadors. “Under this programme young people will be moving across the country to speak messages of cohesion and peace,” he said.