Kenya at 50: Youth have nothing to smile about

This is the Jubilee year for Kenya; fifty years since the country got independence from Britain, the colonial master. Although the country has made significant strides in many spheres of life, the country has not been able to address its largest constituency- the youth.

Since independence, the Kenyan youth population, ages between 15 and 35 years old, has suffered a myriad of problems despite its huge proportion to the total population, which today stands at over 60 percent. This large proportion has over the years not been reflected in the social and economic structure of the nation. They occupy the lowest echelons of the hierarchy and suffer serious exclusion.

For the last fifty years, successive governments have failed to create sound policies to improve the condition of youth in the country. The group remains in appalling conditions, forming the largest segment of the unemployed, illiterate, poor and under-represented in politics. Today, seven out of every ten jobless people in Kenya are youth. It is most unfortunate that youth in Kenya have not been afforded the opportunities that they require to obtain skills essential for economic and social development.

Looking at the situation of Kenyan youth, one would be justified to say that Kenya is still far from real freedom. Noteworthy, inequality and corruption are still the main enemies of marginalized groups in Kenya. Sadly, the growing population of youth is viewed as a problem instead of a benefit to Kenya that can spur the economic growth.

As Kenya marks the jubilee year, it is good to remind ourselves of the important role the youth of Kenya have played and must continue to play to transform their livelihoods and to build a better Kenya.

The country enacted a very progressive constitution in August 2010. Youth, by their huge numbers, overwhelmingly endorsed the document in a historic referendum that year. This was a clear explanation that the new constitution was seen as a new dawn in promoting dignity and fundamental human rights of all Kenyans.

With the hope and promises that the new constitutions gives, this huge support was a clear indication that young people were discontented with the manner in which Kenya had over the years organized its body politics.

For example, the new Constitution under Article 55 provides that the State shall take measures, including affirmative action to ensure that the youth have access to relevant education and training; are accorded an opportunity to be represented and participate in political, social and other spheres of life; have access to employment and are protected from harmful cultural practices and exploitation.

In order to realize the aspirations envisioned under the Constitution, the State is supposed to create an enabling environment and formulate effective policies that will support the implementation and sustainability of youth initiatives.

But the new constitution is not a panacea for youth development. Although a raft of fundamental reforms have been instituted since the promulgation of the Constitution, there is still a lot that needs to be done to protect and realize the full gains created by the new Constitution.

Successive governments have failed to honor the promises that they make to the youth. For example, when the National Rainbow Coalition (NARC) came to power in 2002, it promised to create 500,000 jobs for youth annually. It, however, failed to enact sound policies to realize this dream and instead turned ruthless to those who agitated economic empowerment.

That is not the only promise that governments have made to youth. In 2012, retired President Mwai Kibaki, promised to ensure that 10 percent of all government contracts were allocated to the youth. The pronouncement was not followed by any serious action, forcing the initiative to crumble. The government also created other programmes that were not followed by good policies. There is the Youth Enterprise Development Fund that has been running for close to a decade now, which was supposed to finance young entrepreneurs and promote youth employment. Apart from issues of integrity that have visited this critical institution, its impact is yet to be felt, especially by those in marginalized areas.

Another shameful government initiative is ‘Kazi Kwa Vijana’, an initiative that government created to offer casual jobs to the unemployed youth. Without clear mechanisms of accountability the initiative became a cash cow earning an infamous phrase- ‘Kazi Kwa Vijana-Pesa Kwa wazee’ (transcripted to mean that youth do the work, but those in authority eat the money).

It is evident that the current crop of Kenyan politicians are not genuinely committed to address the plight of youth and they only seek their support, due to their size, to realize their political goals and then abandon once they have the cake. Politicians continue to impoverish the youth by making them vulnerable and desperate in order to use them during elections. The post election violence of 2007/2008 and the perennial politically instigated electoral violence that always have youth as key players, is a clear indication that politicians would always like to have a vulnerable youth.

A more critical question is what young people should do to reclaim their destiny. Youths must refuse to follow the script of the older generation and the political elites. It is unfortunate that youth in Kenya have been waiting for 50 years to be accorded an opportunity to change their situation. It is now evident that this will never come easily.

As the former President of South Africa Thabo Mbeki once noted, for youth to change this sad state of affairs, they must rebel against the existing order. We must refuse to play by the script designed by the authority, mainly people who benefit from the status quo.

Youth must refuse to be passive recipients and instead play an integral role in advocating for their rights and the realization of socio- economic and political independence. This is the only way they will truly be free and prosper.

The requirement in the new constitution to have a youth representative to the county assembly is a good beginning place. It is important that youth identify representatives who can effectively represent youth and address their concerns. On the other hand, the government must do a better job in dealing with youth problems. In particular, the Government should prioritize youth empowerment and development.

To ensure security, peace and stability, the government must pay critical attention to the youths’ condition as this is an indicator and projection of a country’s stability. Due to the high rate of unemployment, young people are driven to engage in harmful vices like crime, drug abuse and prostitution. It is no wonder that the rate of crime and insecurity is quite high in the country due to the appalling state of youth, particularly in the urban slums and rural areas, which is worrying.

To deal with the insecurity menace, the government has opted to use the police who view youth as the problem. In the process, police have resorted to the use of force to silence and deal with dissenting youth on the pretext that they engage in criminal activities. Youth must resist attempts to gag them from raising their voices and making legitimate demands.

Again we must realize that we will never achieve anything through token and short-sighted programmes. Jobs for youth are not a privilege, but a right. The government has a responsibility to take care of its youth by creating conducive environment for them to engage in development activities and wealth creation projects.

The government should come up with effective policies and innovative ways of creating jobs. For example, there is need for the government to build on manufacturing industry. As it is today, the government is still focused on traditional sectors like tea, horticulture and tourism that cannot create the number of jobs that are required.

The film industry should be developed to create employment. If managed properly as an entertainment as well as the economic opportunity, it can create jobs for many.

The government through the relevant institutions should also ensure there is adequate protection of young innovators through effective Intellectual Property models. This will encourage more youth people to use their talents and skill to uplift their livelihoods.

A key area where the government should focus on is the ICT sector where young innovators have made inroads in software and mobile applications development. The music industry has also shown great potential and there is need to support young artistes to realize their dreams and also to have adequate laws that protect them against patent and copyright infringers.

Kenya has developed Vision 2030 as a guiding economic blue print to propel the country into a middle-income economy. However, the government has not put in place the required infrastructure to achieve the vision. One important element to achieve vision 2030 is education. Many children and youth cannot access secondary and college education. The jobs anticipated according to vision 2030 require high level and technical skills that would mean that many youth who envision to be part of the vision will be locked out.

The level of literacy among youth in the country remains low, as youth particularly from poor families are not able to acquire adequate education. This is more evident in the skilled and technical oriented fields envisaged by the 2030 Vision. With adequate training to equip them with the necessary skill, the youth have the capacity to provide the needed manpower to propel Kenya into economic development and prosperity.

The government must strengthen youth programming and nurture youth talent for social and economic advancement. The sports sector is highly mismanaged yet it could create numerous decent jobs and opportunities for the youth.

Struggle for power at the management has crippled sports in Kenya and it’s high time for the sports fraternity to put its house in order. The sports when enacted will provide much needed legal framework that will help revamp some of the grossly mismanaged sports federations and reinvigorate those that are doing well.

Ultimately, to achieve real development, youth must realize that we cannot look up to the older generations or those in power. We must use the possibilities that the Constitution provides, and our own expectations to struggle against the ruling class who only view youth as statistics, a problem or hooligans for hire.

Equally important, youth must not sit back and wait for the government, older generation or the authority to solve their problems. We know the solutions to our problems and we must steer the process instead of agonizing about the problems and continuously looking up for solutions from the political elites who are the perpetrators of the problems.

It must not be lost to us that to attain real economic and political freedom and a better tomorrow, young people need to define strong vision for the future. We must join together if we are to achieve the advancement and development of youth. As young people we must realize that we have a common responsibility. In this regard, we must develop and evolve a strong and common identity and vision of what their imagination of Kenya is and chat the way forward.

Accordingly, youth must get better organized and strive to act in unity. It is vital that we overcome ethnic divisions that politicians always exploit to ensure that youth are fragmented. Youth must reject divisive and negative politics that could instigate violence.

* Raphael Obonyo is External Advisor, United Nations Habitat's Youth Advisory Board. He holds a Master in Public Policy from Duke University. [email][email protected] The views expressed here are his own and do not represent the views/opinion of the UN Habitat.