Youth are not the inventors of corruption, give them a chance

I heard waiting for ‘dead man’s shoes’ for the first time recently from a 93-year-old English friend. I thought I had mastered the Queen’s language so superbly as to tell stories in English. Little did I know there were some more nuggets of phrases out there that have now come in handy to describe the Kenyan job market.

For those still in the dark, I am referring to the recent appointment of a 91-year-old man to manage funds meant to improve the welfare of the youth in the country. This is no news at all if we had our eyes peeled on recent State appointments.

There have been a few octogenarians past their ‘sell-by’ date recycled for good measure. Claiming experience as an excuse for their appointments is not justified if that experience only meant someone warming up a chair for 40-50 years with no tangible results on the ground.

It is hard to believe that there are no competent and honest young people to fill leadership posts in the public service.

DISCRIMINATION

As a disclaimer, there is absolutely nothing wrong with appointing pensioners (going by anti-discrimination laws). But there is just something tasteless, selfish and arcane about it. It is just not right because one gets this sense it is ‘reverse discrimination’ against the youth.

It is not right because it leaves us stuck in the mud, doing things the old way, when we should embrace the energetic, creative and digital ways the young work in tune with the current fast-paced global market systems.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk of SpaceX, PayPal and Tesla cars and Jeff Bezos (Amazon) are only three examples of young visionaries who brought seismic changes to how the world did business and functioned through ground-breaking technological discoveries. Microsoft’s Bill Gates had, of course, set the pace for many of the younger generation of men and women innovators in technology. The future of any country is now dependent on it.

EMBRACE TECHNOLOGY

Kenya was among the first countries to embrace technology. Its M-Pesa mobile money invention continues to marvel the world. Kenyan youth have played a pivotal role in the development of technology in this country. Many apps have been created by them in support of community projects.

The world is now even engaging Kenyan tech-savvy youth to help in creating the futuristic world dependent on Artificial Intelligence (AI), for instance, to be used in driverless cars.

These are our best young brains showing Kenya and the world that they are ready for change and willing to be part of the futuristic and technologically advanced communities. How can they all be corrupt?

Corruption in Kenya has been our hobby since millennials were even thought of. We have stolen public funds as if it was going extinct like our rhinos. If the youth are corrupt, they must have learnt the ignominious ‘trade’ from their seniors. An apple doesn’t fall far from its tree.

Had we punished and curbed corruption when it first reared its head, we wouldn’t be in this state of paranoia. It is just simply not fair to blame the young for something they only inherited by default.

TORTURED INTO SILENCE

Like many other African countries, Kenya is comfortable to be considered a ‘country for old men’. That is why any young person in the continent with creative and modern views is tortured into silence so as not to undermine the status quo for the ageing leaders. Who would forget the trials and tribulations Bobby Wine continues to experience in Uganda?

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed of Ethiopia has now proven that Africa is, indeed, ripe for young, brave and visionary leaders. He has already hit the ground running by bringing historical changes to Ethiopia.

Mr Ahmed has helped to break the glass ceiling for women in his country, one of the most conservative and gendered. Rather than go for tribal appointments preferred by most of his predecessors, he went for an inclusive government because he understands the pitfalls of tribalism in the modern diverse world.

SUPPORT THE YOUTH

President Uhuru Kenyatta started on the same positive note by showing support for the youth. He proclaimed himself the “Digital President” in the last election campaign. He recently even got voted as Global Youth Ambassador. His dismissal now of the youth is baffling. Isn’t he giving them hope with one hand and taking it away with the other through their exclusion from the job market?

Kenyan youth should take their rightful place in society by cementing their quota on the leadership platform. A scheme worth considering, I believe, to prepare Kenyan youth for their future. It rightfully belongs to them.

Asking the youth to wait to fill into the dead man’s shoes in appointments while old people are being recycled with abandon is anathema to the progress of a country. Ninety years is a long, painful wait.

Ms Guyo is a legal researcher. [email protected].