Do not be reckless: Ruto challenges youth to leave a safer Kenya

According to the President, the youth should understand their responsibility in preserving the gains made to preserve national democracy and not wreck their freedom.

Speaking at the 95th St John Ambulance Annual Parade and Inspection at State House, Nairobi on Sunday, President Ruto urged the youth to agitate for their rights in lawful means and not encourage violence.

"Yours is a free country: You have the freedom to dream, freedom to speak, freedom to become all that you can be. But freedom and responsibility are inseparable; you cannot claim one and reject the other. Freedom without responsibility is not freedom. It is recklessness," he said.

"Character is not forged in life’s grand moments alone, it is shaped in the choices you make every day - when you are angry, when no one is watching, when it is easier to follow the crowd, and when your conscience is calling you to stand apart from it."

He urged the young generation to be custodians of astute citizenship and create a safe country for future generations.

"Kenya needs more young people who run towards problems to solve them, not towards trouble to cause it; we need more builders than destroyers; more helpers than bystanders; and more healers than those who cause harm," President Ruto added.

Exuding confidence in the St John Ambulance's in leading his plea from the front. 

To support their services, President Ruto announced a Ksh.600 million support package, including a one-acre parcel of land in Upper Hill.

The package includes Ksh.500 million in construction funding, 15 new ambulances, and an annual budgetary allocation of Ksh.100 million beginning the next financial year.

He added that the title deed for the Upper Hill land was ready for collection from the Ministry of Lands.

Under the arrangement, St. John Ambulance will surrender its current premises near Parliament, with the government setting aside Ksh.300 million for construction of a new headquarters. 

An additional Ksh.200 million will go toward putting up a modern facility on the Upper Hill site.