Fewer youth hold plum State jobs despite parties’ pledge

A youth forum in Mombasa on the role of youth to promote peace [Maarufu Mohamed/Standard]

Fewer youth have been elected or nominated to political office this year compared to 2013.

This is despite the Jubilee Party’s pledge that the youth would be given more leadership and employment opportunities.

According to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), 50.6 per cent or 10,001,825 out of 19,611,423 voters were youth aged between 18 and 35 years.

“Generally, the outcome of the just-concluded poll has recorded a slightly lower representation of the elected and nominated youth compared to 2013,” Susan Mwongera, the Chief Executive Officer of rights group the Youth Agenda told the Sunday Standard.

IEBC official numbers also reveal that comparatively, fewer younger women were elected or nominated to Parliament, erasing gains made in the 11th House.

Consequently, the youth, through their organisations, see the election outcome as a missed opportunity to further the gains of representation, having lobbied for years for better political representation, which is one of the lowest in East Africa.

“We hoped to get more numbers but this did not happen partly because the system is still rigged against us,” Mohammed Hassan Ali, who vied for MCA in Lamu’s Shela Ward, said.

He continued: “It is still very expensive to run for an elective seat and many of the political parties we vied on still owe their allegiance to individuals rather than ideologies, and it is these individuals who decide who runs and who doesn’t.”

Largest group

The youth, aged between 18 and 34, are the largest group in Kenya’s population. While they constitute the majority of the electorate, their participation in politics and representation in formal institutions is relatively low.

The government should adopt strategies for engaging the youth through empowerment to enable them play a greater role in decision making, many say. Activists have also weighed in on the matter, saying young people are excluded from full participation in governance and political systems. “If the youth are meaningfully and effectively involved in party politics, activities and leadership, the youth would positively impact the quality of governance and government in Kenya,” Reverend Timothy Njoya says.

Centre for Multiparty Democracy explores young people’s participation in political and community. It states that although parties have Youth Leagues, these arms are weak and poorly funded with unclear sources of finances and mandates.

“The youth are generally underrepresented in party leadership as well as in representative assemblies. They occupy only a few positions at the top echelons of party hierarchies,” it says in a report.

The Constitution requires that the government undertake affirmative action measures to ensure the youth have access to relevant education, training and employment.

It also requires that the State creates and strengthens existing platforms for youth participation in political, social, economic spheres of life and legislate towards this end.

Of the 14,523 cleared candidates to participate in the August elections, 1,888 were youth aged below 35 years, constituting a mere 13 per cent. This was higher than female candidates who only constituted only 9 per cent.

“Kenya has been socialised into a system that views leadership within a narrowly defined concept of mere influence without service or vision and one that is not appraised. People have ascended to high office on the basis of tribe and wealth- which almost always locks youth representation out,” Mwongera says.

Although the country has not got to the levels aspired to in youth participation in politics, it is not all doom and gloom. The nomination of youthful leaders into political positions after the 2013 elections has born some fruit.

Johnson Sakaja and Naisula Lesuuda, who were faces of the youth as nominated leaers, were duly elected as Nairobi Senator and Samburu West MP, respectively.