How unemployment pushes youth into web of exploitation

It is nearing 10pm on a Sunday evening and George Muya is still busy banging a computer keyboard at a cyber café in Fedha Estate, Nairobi.

Muya, 29, is trying to beat the deadline for a four-page essay assignment for an international client. The topic is horizontal violence in nursing, a subject he never studied.

He glances at the cyber attendant who has since switched off all computers except his.

Muya declares himself as “the real hustler” precluded from formal employment, like many other youths, and gushed into the wilderness of savaging for a living.

According to Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, at least seven million Kenyans are unemployed.

Muya recalls the optimism he had when he graduated with a degree in human resource management. He says he made many job applications and attended interviews but has not been lucky to get a job.

One day, he posted on his Facebook that his world was crumbling as he lived off favours from his siblings who were getting tired with his unending dependence.

Promising deal

“A friend I went to university with linked me to an academic writer based in Kahawa Sukari along Thika Road. I sent him my application and he offered to train and hire me,” says Muya.

That was in April, 2016 and as he explains, the deal was promising.

“One page of 275 words earned me up to Sh300. I did an average of eight pages on a busy day,” reveals Muya.

The peak of writing is usually around mid-October to the end of December and between mid-February and late April.

To survive in the business, Muya says, writers hardly rest during high season to compensate the inconsistencies of other months.

There are many academic and content writing accounts online, including Uvocorp, essay shark, writershub, essaywriters, essayshark and edusson. Many dealers are found at “academic writing accounts” pages on Facebook.

Muya says he started applying for his own accounts to avoid working for another writer for little pay. The application involved doing grammar tests and writing an essay after uploading images of academic transcripts.

“I later got a positive response from writershub. It started with probation where I had to write for about three months before being approved as a junior writer,” he says.

He says when his employer realised he wanted to be independent, he dismissed him last year December.

“He stopped contacting me and switched off his phone. He owed me Sh63,000. I went to his house but found he had relocated,” said Muya.

Muya had to return to his rental bedsitter at Tassia Estate. Although he had his own account, it could not pay him anything because it was still on probation.

“I had saved Sh60,000 and bought a laptop. I also bought an account at ‘academic writing accounts for sale’ page on Facebook,” says Muya.

He was interested in Uvocorp because they paid up to Sh500 per page. He paid Sh35,000 for the account and Sh5,000 for grammarly account, a website account used in checking grammatical errors and plagiarism.

“I was later given the passwords which I changed together with other details as a precaution,” says Muya.

Again, Muya did not know he had been lured into a dubious transaction. After two weeks, he tried logging in only to realise it had been blocked. “I wrote to find out what had happened only to be told the account had been reset into its original form,” Muya said.

He adds: “I was broke and the landlord was threatening to lock me out. I sold my laptop for Sh20,000 yet I’d bought it at Sh38,000. That is why you found me at the cyber.”

Peak seasons

Anneth Cheptoo, now a housewife after five years of fruitless job search says, she was also conned. “After graduating in 2013, my brother gave me a loan of Sh80,000 to buy an account. The seller reclaimed it three months later,” said Cheptoo.

However, Victor Oduor has excelled in the writing business. He says the industry is good only that some unscrupulous individuals take advantage of people.

“I am not planning to look for employment. I make up to Sh200,000 every month during peak seasons,” said Oduor, from Doonholm,Nairobi.

But it is not only international students who hire writers. Cyber cafés advertise proposal writing, as well as term papers, thesis and projects for even masters and doctorate students.

Students also hire people to carry out research and write assignments for them.

“Assignments are to engage learners in seeking answers. The students can internalise what they learn by actively engaging in research and not transferring the duty to others,” said Prof Jackton Odote of Technical University of Kenya.