Getting a job in Kenya is hard. One goes through a lot of monkey business, it ends up as a job in itself, a job for looking for jobs.

I am shocked at just the sheer volumes of young people struggling to get employment. For the record, I am not unemployed. Sometimes though, I wonder what is the point of saying you are employed if your struggles are just the same as those unemployed?

I mean, this country in the beginning of this year introduced new taxes. Talk of turnover taxes for small business. This is over and above the taxes this government levies on businesses and Kenyans. The net effect is it leaves you with little monies that actually being employed sometimes, does feel like being unemployed.

I know of a single parent who takes home 4000 thousand Kenya shillings per month net salary. With it she is expected to feed, clothe and protect her 2 year old. The current state of economy forces Kenyans to do and be everything so as to make ends meet.

I always wonder, what if this single parent taking home Ksh. 4000 monthly quits her job, how will she survive?

Come to think of it, this is the mentality that we are forced to have. We have been conditioned to think that ‘little is better than nothing’. We are encouraged to stick with it because uncertainty of unemployment is too great.

Employers, meanwhile have learned to take advantage of this dire state of affairs. They know Kenyans will take what is being offered. Economy is bad, they tell us and something is better than nothing. So for those people who think are lucky being employed, including myself, news flash, we actually are not. I am not saying that you should quit your jobs. No. I’m only saying we live in a selfish society where the state and our laws have utterly failed to protect its citizens. We the people, have found ways of going round the problem, we have several sources of income to sustain our families

The frustrations for young people don’t end here, welcome to the home of contradictions where you study for field A but get work in field Z. I mean, each year Kenya produces thousands of graduates whose majority end up tarmacking for years and years. By the time they get a job that they studied for its seems too late as companies want higher degree or more skills. If you decide to go back to school and get this higher degree, you again seem to be too overqualified. Now this is a monkey business that needs to stop.

Recently, I went to a government building to run some errands. To my surprise, all the desks that I went to for assistance were being manned by old folks. May the good Lord forgive me but these are our grandparents who are meant to be enjoying their retirement. I enjoyed the slow service, a process that could have taken 30 minutes took 3hrs.

Most of our institutions are run by people who maybe had a certificate and as time went by, they did not see the need to go back to school. So if one goes to seek employment with the hope that their degree will be a plus, they will get a rude shock because, people at these places feel threatened by ones qualifications. They think their jobs will be taken away from them. That is why old people keep dominating while the youth keep tarmacking.

So let us face it, the economy is bad. The government is worsening the situation by taking more loans. I do not know about you but at this rate, where we are heading as this current state scares me.

Written by Sharon Laura O. 

The National Youth Council Act of 2009 establishes the National Youth Council (NYC) in law. The Council comprises several members from the Ministry in charge of youth affairs, and eight youths elected by the youth in a formal set-up. The purpose of the National Youth Council is to give a voice to the youth of Kenya in a bid to have an inclusive body in the political, social and economic matters affecting the country.

A Bill, the National Youth Council Amendment Bill (2019) was introduced to Parliament to amend some provisions of the NYC, Act. Among other proposals, the Bill proposes changing the format of membership of the Council. NYC comprises 8 youths elected by the youth. The Bill proposes to change this set-up to 9 youths nominated by the Cabinet Secretary. This proposal, if passed, will undermine democracy within the Council, limiting the voice and participation of the Youth in governmental affairs.

The proposed composition of membership of NYC will curtail the very essence of the Council. The Council as is, promotes independent participation of the youth in the Council. Having the members nominated by the Executive, rather than elected by the public, undermines the independence of the youth members and that of the Council as a whole.
In a number of the most democratic countries, the members of youth councils or the equivalent entity, are elected by other youth democratically and voluntarily. The Norwegian Children and Youth Council for example, has its members elected by members of other youth organizations. The Commonwealth Youth Council also has its executive members elected by other youth.

Why then, would the Kenyan Parliament propose nomination of youth members into the Council by the Executive? Is there foul play? Do they have malicious intentions? The most probable answer would be that Parliament, through the Executive, wants to have a hand in the affairs of NYC. They intend to suppress the democratic factor of the Council, thus limiting the functions of the Council.

Should the proposed amendment go through, then the Youth of the country may no longer count on the Council to carry their concerns independently. Further, the Youth will not have confidence in the affairs of the Council and will generally doubt their integrity.

There is a general feeling of loss of confidence on the government’s focus on youth affairs in the country. Allowing the government further control on youth affairs will be therefore undesirable and will extinguish the youth’s hope on making a difference in the country’s affairs. It is therefore imminent and important that Parliament does not consider the controversial clause on changing the NYC, but rather leave it as it is.

By Anita Otieno

As we settle back to our work flow, in this new year. I can’t help but think of the circus that occurred during my transit to the village for the holidays.

• Drivers on phone or operating vehicle radio most of the time
  One day as I was traveling from the village back to the city and was privileged to seat next to the driver of transline shuttle. For the first 4 hours, the driver was on phone more than all the passengers combined. He was either making a call, receiving a call, texting or reading a text message. While off his phone, the focus shifted to either changing radio channels, trying to search music from his phone and back to phone calls. It was a concern for me and decided to post it on Facebook and reactions received was that this was not something unique to that particular driver but a problem with shuttle drivers. A week later, I decided to use Guardian shuttle to Kisumu and it was the same trend. Distraction is a major cause of accidents on our roads.
• Drivers hitting the target
  As Christmas drew close, demand on transport increased and drivers got trapped into making money without considering the regulations. For instance, one driver making unprecedented 900k within 24 hours with most of them making those trips from 19th to 24th December and the same will be expected in January as the same people will be rushing back to report to work. How? A driver would start the trip by 6am in Nairobi to Kisii (300km) and leave Kisii by 2pm for Nairobi and finally have the last trip back to Kisii. That same driver will leave Kisii very early even with five passengers because filling a shuttle then was not possible if they had to make the trips and there was no waiting in Nairobi as passengers were already waiting, as one driver that I spoke to mentioned. Fatigue is among the causes of accidents regularly mentioned by the police. SACCOs can regulate just how many trips a driver can make.
• Police mounting roadblocks
  Do they even serve their purpose? Driver’s comradeship demanded that they informed their colleagues if there were roadblocks mounted and therefore some would change route or reduce speed for those who were over speeding. More inspiring was the fact that motorists have devised an online application updated by drivers on roadblocks to inform the road users and therefore they are able to plan accordingly whether to reduce speed or change route. Therefore, police must now embrace use of technology, invest on working their relationship with the public and invest in intelligent policing. Additionally, these very roadblocks are cash cows for the police. For instance, from Kisii to Oyugis is a distance of 25k with 5 roadblocks. All 14 seater public transport vehicles (matatus) carried more than twenty passengers with introduction of a temporary board joining right and left seats to accommodate additional passengers, locally known as ‘sambaza’ while others hanging on the door. All of them are stopped by the police and left to proceed after hefty greetings between police and the conductor or a simple salute as conductor drops Ksh 50 shillings note. According to one conductor, the police will demand for money whether you have 14 or 30 passengers and their portion is Ksh 50. So you better carry more to take care of their cost otherwise the vehicle will make nothing. If you don’t give then you will forever battle cases in court which is unnecessary.
• Not reaching the destination one paid for
  Oversea bus made it a routine to drop people destined to Katito in Oyugis until one day local rights activist aka boda boda teamed up and forced them to complete the journey. Passengers were returned back into the bus and the bus forced to complete the journey or face the music, they complied. Passengers from the village to Nairobi were not spared either, people with luggage which could have easily been carried by bus freely were being charged or forced to send them as a parcel hence introducing another inconvenience of collecting them a day after. What if items were perishable and could easily go bad?

What did you notice on the roads during the holiday season?

Written by Ken Ogembo – Program Manager at Siasa Place

Are you a woman between the age of 18-25 years? We would like to hear from you! 3 lucky winners stand a chance to win Kes. 5000.

With increased internet penetration, there are more Kenyans engaging online on diverse issues, however, comparatively women’s participation on online platforms still lags behind. When we think about the future, we have to think digital space, technology and its application. As mobile phone penetration grows, so does our dependence on mobile network platforms for our daily transactions such as buying goods, paying utility bills, sending money and accessing credit. Our world has radically changed in the space of two decades and it is now inconceivable to live without a digital device. In spite of these technological advancements, there remains a digital divide between men and women in the form of access to technology.

Requirements
The article must be at least 700 words and touch on either of the following topics:

1. The Data Protection Act
2. Online Harassment
3. Current Affairs: e.g Women’s participation online

• Must be a woman between the age of 18-25 years
• Must be Kenyan
• Deadline 29th February, 2020
• Articles to be sent to support@siasaplace.com

A lot of us grew up being told to either be quiet or leave the room when the grownups were speaking. And it is no surprise that our modern day politicians adopted the same lingo. They consistently tell Kenyans, who pay taxes and vote them in to either be quiet or leave the room. In most cases, they have been kicked out of the room or denied access to the building where important decisions about their lives are made.

We know we are not in that room when we see pictures of Kenyan athletes sleeping on the floor in foreign airports; see the ever increasing unemployment rates and decreasing standard of living. Mind you, they never fail to prepare us for these unbearable shifts by constantly telling us to brace ourselves for tough times.

So, what does being in the room look like? What would Kenya look like if it worked for Kenyans? Who are Kenyans without the constant gas lighting from its government, threats to comply with government orders and directives, chaos on our roads, fear of carcinogenic substances in our food?

Who are we when we are not struggling to survive, to breathe? What does Kenyan freedom look like, what is the Kenyan dream? I refuse to believe in the “resilience that produces maturity gospel” preached by our politicians. I am not a zebu cow and neither is Kenya. I reject the resilient rhetoric that makes us comfortable in our misery. I reject headlines that ​sentence us to: “Brace yourselves for higher fuel prices, higher price of bread, higher electricity bills,” higher this, higher that… I reject it in all of its silencing, its manipulative finality and its hopelessness. I reject resilience because we cannot dream and be resilient in the face of misery at the same time. Nothing better comes when we collectively agree to be resilient, just more things to be resilient about. It feels like people sit in a room, in our absence of course, and come up with things that demand our resilience that will eventually kill us because we cannot hold our breath any longer.

​Kenyans are record breakers, inventors of M-pesa among many other things. We are the funniest people alive, see how Kenyans on Twitter (KOT) shut down the internet whenever we need to. Our artists are a constant reminder of what Kenyan beauty is and can be. When you think about the beauty of this country, think about what we could be if our government conspired with its citizens to help them prosper. We have a government that cares too deeply about how Kenya looks like to investors and tourists but does not seem to care about how Kenyans feel about being Kenyan.

Article 1(1) of Our Constitution states that all sovereign power belongs to the people. That means that we have every right to be in the room. Kenya should and must work for the Kenyan people. How do we take back this power? We must interrogate individuals who run for office and vote in leaders we know mean well for us. We must imagine leadership beyond dynasties and familiar personalities. We must take the time to study government structures and actively engage in government processes and hold them accountable to the people and the Constitution.

When we meet the Kenyans who have dedicated their lives to rejecting resilience, let us not ask them to fight on our behalf or speak for us. The work of imagining and working towards a Kenya that works for all of us cannot be delegated. It is not enough for us to become admirers of their words, their courage, and their convictions. We must all be willing and ready to ask the question, “I see what you are doing, how can I help? What can I do for this win? Then put in the work. A Kenya that works for all of us must be worked on
by every Kenyan.

I wish you a year and a decade that doesn’t give you reasons to be resilient. I wish you courage that consistently denounces survival.

Written by Wanjiru Nguhi
Co-Founder of Mwafrika Mwenzangu | Lawyer | Political Strategist | Writer | Feminist

The Employment and Labour Relations Court (ELRC) has quashed the appointment of Ms. Mary Munene Wambui on Friday, 17th January 2019 as the Chair of the National Employment Authority (NEA) on grounds the gazette notice was illegal and unconstitutional and therefore null and void.

Delivering the ruling Justice Onesmus Makau directed the appointing authority to adhere to the Constitution and other laws including NEA act if they’ll be making fresh appointments to the office.

Below is our press statement:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, January 17, 2020. Siasa Place and PAWA 254 has today welcomed the decision by the Employment and Labor Relations Court (ELRC) in Nairobi to quash the appointment of former Othaya MP, Ms. Mary Wambui’s as the Chairperson of the National Employment
Authority (NEA).

While delivering the ruling on the petitions that were filed challenging her appointment in October, 2019, Justice Onesimus Makau noted that Ms. Wambui was unqualified and that the gazettement of her appointment was irregular, unprocedural and thus unconstitutional.
He further directed that the appointing authority who is the Cabinet Secretary for Labor should follow the set out procedures and guidelines in the Constitution and the National Employment Authority (NEA) Act on the appointment of a person to the position of the chairperson of the board. He also issued a permanent injunction barring Ms. Wambui from being appointed to the post.

“The decision is a victory for the young people of Kenya given that the spirit behind the legislation was to create a platform to address the youth unemployment in the country.” ​says Siasa Place Executive Director, Ms Nerima Wako-Ojiwa.

Ms Wako has further called upon the Executive to take the issues facing young people seriously noting that unemployment coupled with increasing cost of living is impacting the youth negatively. She also noted that the win is big victory for the rule of law.

“I welcome the judgement by Justice Makau J for upholding the rule of law. Young people’s voice has been heard today and it has set precedence for all public appointments. Youth issues must be taken seriously.” ​ Mbuki Mburu , PAWA 254

In October 2019, Youth serving organizations, Siasa Place and PAWA 254 were enjoined with Kenya Young Parliamentarians Association who had petitioned against the appointment of Ms. Mary Wambui Munene.

– Ends –

For more information, contact Communication Officer, Siasa Place  |  Tel. 0757840552   |  Email: support @siasaplace.com

Also find a link to view the Judgement Petition No. 190 of 2019 – https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NB8KcT-yYwtbtwQzzsaDboG190ADL0bn/view?usp=sharing

Introduction
Article 55(b) of the Constitution mandates the state to take measures for the youth have opportunities to be represented and participate in political, social, economic spaces. Further on, in preparation for Africa’s youth bulge and succession planning, cognizant of best practices of the Commonwealth Youth Council, East Africa Youth Commission and Africa Youth Commission, article 55(b) necessitates an urgent move to harness the youth demographic dividend for economic prosperity of the nation.

Rationale
The National Youth Council’s mandate in fulfilling the above was structurally watered down by the amended bill of 2019 which shrinks further the democratic space of young people. Therefore, the YSO Consortium consisting of 50 national and grassroots organizations reviewed the provisions of the National Youth Council Bill 2019 and harmonized it into a memorandum with the following key provisions informing the 5-point agenda;

1. Professionalization of Youth Work. Kenya is one of the commonwelath countries without a national-level policy that regulates, protects and promotes youth work as a distinct profession despite its significant youth bulge. To resolve this, we propose that the NYC will define the youth work profession model and work the MoPSYGA and other relevant stakeholders to establish locally relevant policies, procedures and mechanisms to accredit youth workers.
2. Youth mainstreaming. The NYC will nominate youths into decision making bodies such as boards, agencies and other public institutions and organizations. They will also coordinate the youth agenda into national policy processes including youth mainstreaming, youth data and evidence based policy making , youth volunteerism and other relevant national development policy processes by public institutions and organizations.
3. Structure and functions. The structure of the Council envisaged in the Bill transforms the Council into a national outfit that does not have any county presence. To address this, we propose the establishment of the County Youth Council, provide for its functions and powers. Secondly, the functions of the Council in the 2019 amendment bill are watered down and do not capture the spirit of a youth representative body and therefore we recommend the incorporation of functions in the 2009 Act with a few amendments.
4. Corporate membership and resource mobilization. NYC funded from public coffers is hindered by lack of resources. We recommend having corporate membership as a mechanism to mobilize resources as such, Youth Serving Organization will be accredited as corporate members and will pay a subscription fee to remain in membership (provides resources and sustainability, representation) for a designate period.
5. Capacity building. For the National Youth Council to transform, there must be a change in ways of engaging, therefore deliberate attempts must be mad to build capacity of council leaders to understand their role and repercussions of not executing their duties effectively.

Conclusion
In the interest of young people of the republic of Kenya, the memorandum proposes solutions to the loopholes in the 2019 Amendment Bill and seeks to gain the support of members of parliament, the initiator of the bill and citizens of good will.

By:Youth Agenda, ActionAid, PAWA254, Africa Youth Trust, Governance Pillar, Siasa Place, Nairobi County Network, AYLF, Global Platform, Young Democrats, My Leader Kenya, UJANA Africa, Red Cross, YOBBA, Activista, Nairobits Trust, Go Green, Y-Act, Emerging Leaders Foundation, World Healers Foundation, Nairobi County Youth Network, INUUA, ODBS Foundation, Youth Alive Kenya, Youth & Success Association, Akili Dada, Dada Power and Youth Senate-Kenya.

For access to the National Youth Council (Amendment) Bill 2019, check the following link:

http://www.parliament.go.ke/sites/default/files/2019-03/National%20Youth%20Council%20%28Amendment%29%20Bill%2C%202019_compressed.pdf

One will agree with me in one way or the other that, the drought and hunger situation being experienced in our nation currently is not a calamity or an emergency as being treated and mentioned by our so called leaders. It is something that we see almost annually.

Turkana county is one of the most affected counties with drought and food insecurity. Many a times, Turkana has suffered starvation frequently, not because they are lazy, not because during voting they are busy taking alcohol until they are not sober to elect, but because the leaders have a major reason behind vying for positions to serve the people but with a motive to sit over their rights and loot in the name of implementing non-existent development .

A hard fact that prevails up to date is that Turkana would be a rich county if the people would be left to extract their oils and sell as a right of ownership, but the so called leaders have sought to rule over them by making them to be beggars just to offer their resources in exchange of basic needs that their leaders have denied them. In the first place, the starvation in Turkana should be termed as a crime against humanity because it is orchestrated by the leaders who have deprived them energy and voice of unity to call for justice.

Many of the leaders who are calling for help, have subjected their people to, dams that were to be constructed and have taken over a decade and were fully paid for. These same dams have instances of requesting for more funding due to unforeseen circumstances, most qualified engineers for such projects should always give such estimations from the start. This makes it very clear who the tender winners always are.

Leaders have always been in this menace for years and even allocated funds for such emergencies, but funny enough, the county officials could not identify the national crisis. They instead responded by still organizing for cultural events. This puts it clear the kind of people we give responsibility to manage our funds and development plans.

I feel that as Kenyans, we have got too many lessons and events to learn from to make us not wait and see us suffer in the name of who we elected. We need to take precaution to be in the forefront correcting them even if the person in power is your close relative, remember that power is left here on earth you never know who will lead your children after you leave. Every county has their priorities and leaders too have theirs, these leaders will always want to support the needy to get attention on social media and the general public, in fact I encourage the public to device a way to generate support for themselves without leaving a space for such greedy leaders to take advantage of the situations.

​
Written by Victor Sijenyi. Victor is the Chair at Kasarani Youth Empowerment Centre and a volunteer at OAYOUTH Kenya
Email: thelegendsartsproduction@gmail.com

In life every one of us has their own story, all the stories are unique to that individual just like DNA, and stories may look alike but not the same.T hose before independence, and to date the stories have had 3 issues as the denominator, the issues mostly perceived and determined by the colonialists who regarded the African community as a backward illiterate society:

• Illiteracy, the colonialist disregarded our social structure that catered for all, making us believe literacy is going through western educational system, and to achieve that our stories spread from going to school on empty stomachs to without shoes and accessing education at advance age in life like that of 84 year old Kimani Ng’ang’a Maruge, making him the oldest man in Kenya to attend primary school. The Guinness Book of World Records listed him as being the oldest person in the world to start primary school. Western education system became part of us growing up forgoing our culture
• Poverty, white man collaborated with the Africans during colonial period and thereafter the tribal kings perpetuated the narrative of poverty in Africa. The perpetuated belief created stories and pictures shot of how poverty has its pangs on people including the story of southern Sudan girl whose photo was taken with a vulture behind her waiting for her death. The picture was taken in 1993 but since then has that changed even after attaining right to self-determination? And was poverty an issue in African society before the colonial masters and how was the societal setups before?
• Diseases, from malaria to HIV/AIDS conditions and lately cancer that people have had their share of, to those with wealth and those without equalized by the pain of disease. The rich also cry for their loved ones, the powerful are powerless before the diseases. The current day colonial masters (tribal kings/ so called leaders) have ensured that systems (health, education, agriculture, manufacturing industries) don’t work so that they continue being beneficiaries of colonizing the masses with ‘mtu wetu’ syndrome. They are nor reaping from their own systems of neglect but they are slightly better because they can still afford to go abroad for treatment.

That which we are not told is, the continent is faced with the 3 issues as the main problems. Therefore being poor, sick or illiterate is normal what matters is what are you doing about your current status?

First we were told education has an effect of equalizing the poor and the rich as well as the solution to the 3 problems. However since the departure of the colonial power and inception of Africans as the leaders, things have taken a different turn. The Africans who fought for independence never enhanced the system of governance to accommodate growth through industries, and exploitation of natural resources. With 54 countries, the richest continent endowed with natural resources, every country has its tribes and every tribe has its own semi gods who call the shots. The tribes in power are the new colonial powers compared to the situation in which Britain had companies managing Africa on its behalf. Just like the companies the tribes in power manage Africa and on behalf of the western and eastern nations. Africa is growing and the debts are increasing every year, they are unable to negotiate for better deals because of the already incurred debts and the pressing demand for the infrastructural development which will never repay itself. The population has tripled since independence, democratic principles and laws are cut and paste without consideration of the people to extent of equating democracy to periodic shambolic elections. In Kenya government is taxing the citizens for every coin, and for everything including using the roads where the highway authority is introducing a new tax for those using highways!

Sounds brilliant as those with cars and businessmen will be the ones to feel the pain but the real effect is to the consumer who is the poor man who earns below a dollar. The cost will be transferred through increase of commodities. More to that, being young is equated to, a disillusioned and disinterested member of the society. Researchers have said that we (youth) do not care “how” we get anything what matters is we have it. Fortunately or unfortunately we constitute at least over 60% of our population not forgetting infotrak research, that Kenyans feel the country is headed in the wrong direction!

We were made to believe how our life should turn for the better after having gone through education but the reality is taking us into disarray. 90’s babies we grew up reading stories and society also told us how so and so became successful. Blinded with the stories, we went into education with expectations of success only to be stranded on the streets of Nairobi with our educational papers.

The same society revised the rules and told us to call our uncles/ aunties or they will call ‘mheshimiwas’, simply to find something other than having papers, that is connections or whom you know. From so and so went to school, the stories changed to so and so is related or known to who and through the linkage they got there. The education lost the “weight” and it became just a system that we have/had to go through as part of the growth / formal cultural expectations and get to the age of majority.

On July, 20th 2019, at unfungamano house, I was seated among young people from different walks of life for a book launch, entitled “UNBREAKABLE” by a young person who battled with his life story but decided to share the same life with us and those who come in long after we are gone. The author named Danish Odongo now is and will be described as an author for having shared the story of his life to encourage others and also fight for himself. “How” many of us can share their story only to inspire and tell their unfortunate story for others fortune?

Every story has its roots somewhere and for me the story lies within our governance. All our billionaires have had interactions with the government in one way or the other, what they possess may have been acquired through shoddy deals. Government ministers are the billionaires, state officers, are ranch and business owners, due to connection systems which have failed the governance system. Once on a dinner table, someone challenged us to think of a country as a home, government/ leadership as the two parents and the children as the citizens while those family members and neighbors as the neighboring countries! In the house if fathers and mothers fail to dispense their roles then that house becomes just another building and the children will suffer.

That said, the young people, today is a gift but you have to earn tomorrow!

Peace!

By Ahmad Moalim
Lawyer,Democrat,Community rights champion and student of contextualized democratic principles
Twitter: @moalim_ahmad