By Standard Reporter
Silvance Osele, one of the youngest member of the Eleventh Parliament, has declared his intention to lobby MPs to enact legislations that address interests of the youth and marginalised groups.
Mr Osele, 26, says the first item in his to-do list will be to ensure the youth have an edge in leadership and jobs.
Also on his agenda will be to improve education, access to health services, creating jobs for the youth, and empowering women by helping them access funding through community-based organisations.
Osele, the youngest MP, says his election to Parliament to represent Kasipul-Kabondo constituency was proof that the electorate was keen on ushering in young leaders with viable ideas that will facilitate the realisation of ‘Vision 2030’.
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“I have seen many young brains underperforming in the last parliaments and I will not join the list of the failures. I will deliver to my people,” he says, adding his political journey was no mean feat. “Wading through the mucky waters was not for the faint hearted,” he says.
The legislator says Kenyans should look forward to leaders who support issue-based politics.
Osele, who says the his interest in youth affairs spiced up his decision to take a stab at elective politics, says his ambition began in 2009 when he joined the Committee for Experts, which drafted the new Constitution as a civic educator when the country was searching for the new Constitution.
Civic educator
“I read the document and understood it so well that I had no problem interpreting it to the people at the grassroots,” he says. He was also involved in the Kenya National Commission for Human Rights’ Agenda 5 Programme.
These are the platforms he first had to interact with people. “By virtue of my positions, I got the chance to sharpen my public speaking skills. My friends encouraged me to vie for a civic seat in Ruaraka because I had become a crowd puller in most ghetto assemblies even at the Bunge la Mwananchi,” he told The Standard On Sunday.
His quest for represent his constituency in Parliament was pitted him against seasoned contenders with deep pockets and strong financial muscle. His major opponents were former NHIF chief Richard Muga, former personal assistant to Prime Minister Raila Odinga Herbert Ojwang’, former Kabondo-Kasipul MP, Paddy Ahenda, retired senior civil servant Enoch Ogutu, and Hudson Abebe, formerly of the Government Printing Press.
Former barber
“I knew I was born a leader but I only realised a few years ago that I could go into elective politics. My biggest headache was raising campaign money. I just did not know how to get it,” says Osele, whose earlier troubles in life saw him land the job of a barber in Mathare estate in Nairobi.
He won the Kabondo-Kasipul seat in the March 4 elections after beating his close competitor who was running on a Wiper ticket by more than 4,000 votes.
In his campaigns, Osele says generation change was his main agenda. He convinced the electorate that they needed a youthful leadership to champion the interest of the youth.
“I want the youth from all parts of this country to see me as their representative in Parliament and I want them to be free and share with me problems affecting them,” the MP said in an earlier interview.
