Take 5: Raphael Obonyo

Raphael Obonyo, founder and convener at the Youth congress of Kenya. PHOTOS| COURTESY

Raphael Obonyo is an award-winning youth advocate, as well as the author of ‘Conversations about the Youth in Kenya’. He is the co-founder of a number of youth and community development projects in Korogocho, such as the Youth Congress of Kenya (2007) and the Kenya Youth Media (2011). In 2016, he received the Utumishi Bora – Exemplary Leadership Award, and was one of the UN Persons of the Year.

1. What spurs your passion for the youth of Kenya?

My passion for the young people of Kenya is founded on the enormous potential we have to create a better future for ourselves and for others. My aim has been to create opportunities for young men and women, to help them realise their full potential. What they need is work opportunities, work gives human beings dignity.

Having grown up in Korogocho, I experienced  poverty first-hand, and I know too well what lack of opportunities can do to a young person’s dignity. This is one of the reasons I am interested in pushing the youth agenda in the country.

 

2. What do you think is the one contributor to, and solution for unemployment in Kenya?

In its recent report, the World Bank revealed that Kenya has the largest number of jobless youth in East Africa. Currently, 70 per cent of jobless people in the country are youth. Even worse is that every year, over 1 million young people join the labour market to chase elusive jobs.

We need comprehensive policies, plans and programs to create jobs. Knee jerk reactions and patchy interventions will never solve youth unemployment. The few initiatives that have been created have failed to yield the envisaged results due to lack of a focused leadership, poor institution design and support and most importantly, corruption.

The government must redouble its investments in youth empowerment programs. There is need to provide sufficient resources in the budget that match the magnitude of the problem. Building partnership with the private sector for youth empowerment is important. There is no other greater generator of wealth, innovation and jobs than the private sector.

3. Tell us about your book

Conversations about the Youth in Kenya discusses the need for investment in our youth as the country’s greatest asset. The book, which includes a foreword by the former Chief Justice Willy Mutunga, proposes innovative solutions to some of the youth challenges in the country - 80 per cent of Kenya’s population is below 35 years, however, this important segment of the population is vulnerable and suffers the brunt of unemployment, yet they represent dynamism, talent and energy that must be harnessed for our country to make real progress. Our youth are Kenya, and we cannot leave Kenya behind.

 

4. Since you are an author, I assume that you read a lot - what is the last book you read?

I love reading. Books are my closest friends. I read a book a week. I’ve just finished reading Born A Crime, Trevor Noah’s memoir, a window into life in apartheid South Africa, his childhood through to the post-apartheid era in the 1990s. Trevor Noah’s childhood stories about South Africa are harrowing, yet told with deep sense of humour.

Right now, I am reading The Looting Machine, by Tom Burgis, an expose of the global web of traders, bankers, middlemen, despots and corporate raiders that is pillaging Africa’s vast natural wealth. Africa is in dire need of bold and visionary leaders who are selfless and committed to improving the livelihood of the citizens.

 

5. You were named a UN Person of the Year in 2016. What pressures come with that, and what exactly does it mean?

The award affirms that life portends limitless possibilities and opportunities. It demonstrates our resilience, and speaks to our highest aspirations as Kenyan youth, that in the face of unimaginable difficulties, we can create a better future for ourselves and for others.

The award shows that youth is not about “lack”, rather, about “potential” - vision and action for social progress and development.

This award affirms that youth are the solution, and that we have the power to solve problems in our communities, country, continent and the world.

I do not consider it a mark of achievement, rather, a call to action. It has inspired me to do more, and to do better, and I hope it will inspire somebody out there to be the desired change.

A better world is possible if we take action.