By Public Watchdog
We are at the threshold of deciding on the next crop of leaders to be at the centre of Kenya’s next critical transformation, and key in this must be a well thought-out youth empowerment programme.
Last week, a group of youth representing many African countries held an exceptional meeting at the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) headquarters, a conducive green-lawned environment at Gigiri, Nairobi, to discuss challenges and possible solutions facing a growing restless generation as well as to give impetus to volunteerism.
A welcome development and resolution of the conference was the launch of the East Africa Volunteerism Programme.
Every speaker at the youth meeting — that included political and corporate leaders led by Prime Minister Raila Odinga and celebrated industrialist and philanthropist Dr Manu Chandaria — emphasised the need for youth empowerment programmes.
empowerment champion
Why? The statistics are startling — an estimated six million Kenyan youth are presently unemployed, and projections put the cumulative at 24 million by the year 2030 when Kenya’s population is expected to hit 60 million.
Further, over 75 per cent of the population is under 35 years of age. The question therefore begs; who will be Kenya’s political youth empowerment champion? What, then, are the compelling factors in determining such a political champion?
First, we must determine who is genuinely seeking to convert the youth energy not just for political support, but also as harnessed power to drive economic growth through youth-centred empowerment programmes.
The promises by aspirants will be far and wide in the crowded political environment we are witnessing and which offers what appears at the face-value to be many choices but in reality boil down to limited pragmatic choices. How? In hindsight we now know that the youth become valuable political assets as elections draw closer, and many political leaders across the political divide come up with impressive youth policy empowerment programmes that, unfortunately, become abandoned assets until the next election cycle.
How? Youth have limited political influence in the running of government, as such role is conveniently taken over by powerful moneyed and politically-connected influence peddlers that corruptly capture, fuel and control the political system.
In a way, these political and economic actors that constitute less than 1% of the population influence and control policies that support wealth accumulation by the favoured few in our political system. This is true today as it was yesterday, and is predictably true tomorrow.
But how can we reverse course? Who of our political leaders will listen to the cries and yearnings of the majority — the youth constituting that majority? Who can we trust and why? Secondly, in order to stem hopelessness in our society due to rising poverty and unemployment, we must embrace policies that support a culture of entrepreneurship so as to underpin employment-creation, self-employment, volunteerism and convert youth energy to engender economic growth.
In this respect, the strategy must aim at creating opportunities in cities and in urban and rural centres through appropriate infrastructure in terms that include entrepreneurship centres at locational, constituency and county levels.
It is through such multivariate policy interventions, which should include access to credit and markets, that the youth can be empowered to render services and contribute to national productivity.
This expectation can only be realised through a combination of measures, including post-secondary school entrepreneurship and vocational skills training programmes.
Thirdly, it is only a forward-looking and transformative leadership that can seek to commit and implement necessary bold measures, including allocation of devolved resources to the tune of at least Sh15 billion a year and which must be ring-fenced for the purpose of youth empowerment, that can make a difference.
The political leadership, if it cares about the plight of the young and restless generation, can no longer take them for granted in the hope that they will perpetually remain cheer- or jeer-assets — maintained with little handouts every electioneering period to secure support and votes.
Thus, political party manifestos must not remain borrowed and downloaded marketing gimmicks aimed at hoodwinking the electorate without political commitment, but become strategic programmes with economic feasibility tests, sequenced implementation action programmes and consideration of resource outlay.
Again, it is not only the responsibility of the youth but the entire electorate to scrutinise manifestos and seek necessary explanations in order to make appropriate determinations and choices. Finally, the Public Watchdog hereby reminds our political leaders that the challenge facing the youth cannot be wished away through short-term, unviable promises equally aimed at short-term considerations.
national share
Moreover, the youth themselves as a matter of right must demand their share of national development resources.
The youth must further take control of their destiny by electing only transformative leaders at both County and National levels, including to the positions of governor, the presidency and representatives of the National Assembly and Senate levels.
Towards this end, the youth have a choice of either remaining proactively engaged in putting in position of power and authority only those leaders who have demonstrated capacity to confront current challenges facing the country, or remain hopelessly and haplessly helpless and at the mercy of egotistical leaders, this matter being of a compelling the public interest!. The writer is an opinion leader who prefers to remain anonymous
Send comments to: publicwatchdog@standardmedia.co.ke
