Unemployment among the youths in Kenya has been an issue that the country has struggled with for years. Despite various efforts put in place to provide remedies for this monster that has since propelled the youths to engage in illegal activities such as robbery, burglary, drug trafficking among others in order to survive, many of the efforts have terribly failed leaving the youths in their similar or even much worse condition.
With a total of 48 universities in the country both public and private, an approximate of 30,000 graduands are released in the saturated market every year. In addition to that number colleges and Polytechnics also produce at least 15,000 graduates every year, all of them with high expectations to secure a nice and well paying job that can enable them live a different life from that which they have led while in school.
There are a number of factors that contribute to unemployment among the youths for example; high population of the youths who surpass the number of job opportunities available, lack of skills that are matches the needs in the job market, insufficient financial resources to support entrepreneurial ventures hence hindering the youths to self employ themselves and also little support from the government also leaves majority of the youths with no jobs.
At the moment, the economy is so tough, prices of basic products have either doubled or trippled making life even worse, bearing in mind the existence of unemployed youths with nothing in their pockets also needs to survive. The youths who are now supposed to be supporting their parents and their siblings during tough moments are now the ones who now depend on their parents for not only food but also clothing, shelter and even some pocket money. Today it’s not surprising to find a 25 year old gent or lady still under the roof of his or her parents. This situation not only affects the youths mentally, physically and emotionally but also affects their parents who strived and sacrificed to ensure their children attend the prestigious schools earn grades enough to award them entry into good courses that are marketable graduate and finally get a job of greener pastures with high hopes that they will come back and support them and also live a happy life with their parents.
A lot of youths have lost their lives in an attempt to use the last option to survive. They are left with no options hence ending up engaging in illegal activities so as to ensure they have something on the table at the end of the day and in the process they are shot dead by the law enforcers or if lucky arrested and locked in. Cases where youths have poisoned or hanged themselves have also been on the rise some have also run mad, a smart young man or lady with certificates and degrees decorated with excellent grades just goes mad, it’s so painful.”Education is now a right of passage and not a key to soft and better life” this is the song that you hear today while interacting with the youths. The saying that education opens better opportunities in life has taken a different trajectory.
It’s so difficult today to encourage a youth to go back to school and advance his or her studies because they have already been disappointed, they consider their time in school a waste of time some even regret that their parents could have just given them that money to start up business instead of investing in their studies.
The previous government under President Uhuru Kenyatta launched Kazi Mtaani Initiative in the year 2020 with an aim to tackle youth employment and enhance Community development by providing temporary employment opportunities for the youths. The initiative managed to employ 283,000 local youths across all the 47 Counties. Despite its success in reducing unemployment, it was scrapped by the current government that intended to replace the Kazi Mtaani by Hustler Fund Initiative which was launched last year but has reaped no fruits so far. TheK ksh 21.1b that was lend to the people youths among them was not enough to promote entrepreneurial activities since majority of the people got utmost ksh 600 which they directly diverted it to food purchase since the economy was still tough. The youths remained in the same situation they were unlike Kazi Mtaani where an individual was paid Ksh 500 a day some cash well enough to sustain them.
In order to curb this situation everyone should contribute in one way or the other starting with the government, parents, private sectors and also the youths. If they will be able to combine their efforts to fight unemployment they may emerge victorious. The government on its side should first improve the education system by formulating curriculum reforms that will incorporate practical skills, internships so as to equip the youths with skills that match the skills needed in the market. They should also prioritize the youths when hiring government employees instead of re appointing the old people who have served in the government for more than 20 years back into office yet there are youths out there who can perfectly do the same job but are at home unemployed, depressed with their qualifications, papers rotting under their beds. Creating a conducive environment for entrepreneurs for example lowering the taxes for small scale business people, giving out loans and incentives to the entrepreneurs can motivate the youths to venture into small business and earn their own money.
The government can also foster public – private partnership to promote job creation. The industries that need government support to become fully operational like Mumias Sugar Company, Nzoia Sugar Company and Pan Paper should be funded so as to create more job opportunities for the youths. Constructing industries in at least every County can also decrease the unemployment rate in the country.
The parents should also try and save some cash for their children so that when they come out of schools, parents can set up small businesses for their children e.g. Cyber cafe, fast food shops, uber transport business, boutiques among others. On the side of the youths they should be ready to learn and take care of business set up to them by their parents. The serious efforts that they put when searching for jobs should be the same to that which they apply to such small businesses given to them.
The youths should also go extra miles and learn some demanding skills that are needed in the job market. Some of these skills are freely offered through various platforms for example skills in web designing, Coding and Graphic designing, certificates are also offered at the end of learning sessions all you need is just stable internet connection and the urge to learn. Among themselves they should consider forming self help groups where they can collect their small resources together and come up with a project to benefit them.
Lastly, it’s not a must for a youth to do a job that he or she specialized in while in campus, any job that they get a chance to do they should consider giving it a try maybe it can be a stepping stone for them to reach their targeted jobs. It’s now time for the youths to get up from their comfort zone and grasp any opportunity that comes their way in order to unlock their potential and brighten their future and that of the country as a whole.
By Charles Kiprono
