Kenya tops new scouts survey

Scouts march through Nyeri town on February 24, 2018 during the Scouts Founderee Day celebration. PHOTO | NICHOLAS KOMU | NATION MEDIA GROUP

Members of the Kenya Scouts Association perform better in leadership, social and life skills, compared to their counterparts in Singapore and the United Kingdom a new survey shows.

They also tend to be more emotionally intelligent, according to the study.

The survey, conducted by SocStats in 2017, interrogated the superiority on 14 topics including leadership, active citizenship, employability and diversity.

It sampled 4,796 scouts in United Kingdom, Kenya and Singapore.

The study was released a day before the commemoration of Founder's Day.

The event will be marked Saturday in Nyeri town.

Chief Scout and former Lands CS Jacob Kaimenyi, KFCB boss Ezekiel Mutua, Governor Mutahi Kahiga and MPs led by Kanini Kega (Kieni), Wambugu Ngunjiri (Nyeri Town) and other dignitaries across the globe are attending the event at the Dedan Kimathi Kamukunji Stadium.

The movement was founded by Lord Baden Powell in 1907.

On February 22 every year scouts all over the world celebrate Mr Powell's birthday which happens to coincide with that of his wife Olave Powell.

Olave Powell was also head of the girl scouts in the world.

Both were buried in Nyeri, facing Mt Kenya.

More than a century later, the movement has registered over 40 million scouts worldwide in 162 countries.

In Kenya, the movement has a membership of 1.52 million making it the largest youth movement in Africa and sixth in the world.

This number accounts for more than three percent of the total scouts globally.

The movement projects that this number will continue to grow and it targets to grow to up to 2.5million members by 2023.

The association believes that even though times have changed, the teachings and values intended by the founding scout still hold a key position in socioeconomic growth.

“The values of scouting are much alive and key to society especially among youth. Times may have changed but scouting has not lost its place in society. In fact it is an integral part of the country’s socioeconomic growth,” Mr Shem Oluchiri the movement’s National Commissioner for Communications said in an exclusive interview with the Nation.

The values of scouting have stuck even as it remodels its approach other than the traditional uniformed practice and outdoor camping.

According to KSA, the traditional practice remains but a programme based mentorship approach has been the focus in recent years.

“We still have the camping and uniformed activities but times have changed. We are taking a different approach that incorporates school programmes where we provide mentorship and life skill training,” Mr Oluchiri said.