Tell-tale signs of potential threat of youth unemployment in Kenya

Mercy Tarus, a student who was to travel to Canada for Overseas study programme still at her salon at Chepkolel, Uasin Gishu County on August 8, 2023. [Christopher Kipsang, Standard]

Within the past two weeks, two seemingly unrelated events trended widely across the country. First, it was the Worldcoin craze when hundreds of youths lined up for eye scans in exchange of crypto points by an entity they knew nothing about. Second, was the brave young lady from Uasin Gishu County who gave a tongue-lashing to senior officials of the county in the glare of cameras.

For many, these events may appear to be part of the usual 'memes' that have a habit of showing up every so often in our otherwise normal lives. However, from a critical look of the socio-economic fabric of the nation, these are not random nor unrelated events. They do have a thread that connects them.