Ministry should address problems of youth

Two recent developments could bring a smile on young people’s faces.

When the President reshuffled his Cabinet, he crafted a ministry to address the youth agenda.

His decision must have been informed by the fact that mainstreaming youth affairs in the other overcrowded ministries, especially that of Devolution and Planning, could turn tragic for a government that is facing an election in two years.

The other development was the creation of the Youth Sector Working Group that draws its membership from the national and county governments, the private sector, youth organisations, philanthropy and development partners.

The challenges affecting the youth in this country are well documented and have eloquently been commented about.

Kenya needs a plan to tackle the unprecedented problem of youth unemployment right now, not a decade from now.

Although successive governments have attempted to tackle the plight of the youth, and more so the problems touching on unemployment, no coherent strategy has ever been spelt out.

This new initiative should differ by creating a winning formula with long-term gains.

Young people’s outrage at how the government had ignored them must have compelled the President to include youth in the recent reshuffle.

While young people have every reason to thank the President for creating this ministry, it should not be for quick political gain.

A GOOD IDEA
The new ministry has its job cut out for it.

It should do a thorough audit of why desirable results have not been achieved.

Any initiative that is not properly focused is vulnerable to other vices such as corruption and this is where we seem to have lost the battle.

For instance, the Kibaki government created the Youth Enterprise Development Fund.

This was a well-thought-out idea to support creative and viable business ideas by providing start-up or expansion capital.

The success of the programme, almost a decade later, is not clearly visible.

This institution has instead had its credibility dented by numerous allegations of corruption that have seen all its chief executives leave in unclear circumstances.

The revamped National Youth Service, which was allocated a huge budget this financial year to address challenges facing the youth, has also been faced with serious accountability issues due to poor planning.

Another important organ that was created in 2012 is the National Youth Council.

A NEW OUTLOOK

Although this organ is supposed to play a significant role in policy formulation, its influence has not been felt.

With its current officials’ term coming to an end this year, there is an opportunity to give it a fresh face by facilitating new elections.

The National Youth Policy of 2007 is redundant and requires overhaul.

Realising the fast-changing trends, the drafters, in consultation with the youth, had suggested review of the document every five years.

This has not been the case and therefore the policy is not in tune with the 2010 Constitution, Kenya’s economic blue print, and existing realities.

As Pope Francis rightly said during his recent visit to Kenya, the youth are our country’s greatest asset and we must protect them, invest in them, and give them a helping hand if we are to realise a better future.