Director of Youth Programmes in the Office of the President Walter Mong'are's response to a question he was asked at a Youth Dialogue Forum in Nairobi sparked angry reactions from a section of Kenyans.
When asked why many foreigners were given jobs on big government infrastructure projects at the expense of young Kenyans who are capable of executing the same tasks, Mong'are explained that Kenyan millenials were 'entitled'.
The once-popular comedian with the stage name Nyambane went on to state that Kenyan youth felt they deserved the jobs simply because they were here.
He asserted that many young people were not willing or ready to take up the jobs and, therefore, foreigners would fill the positions.
“You cannot just sit at home and expect jobs to come to you. You must get up and look for the opportunities,” he stated.
[caption caption="Walter Mong'are with President Uhuru Kenyatta and Interior CS Fred Matiang'i"]
[/caption]
Speaking to Kenyans.co.ke on Thursday, he explained in greater detail what he meant by 'entitled millenials'.
"The element of entitlement is because there are those who feel they are 18 to 35 and they've been through college so automatically they should have a job. And they expect six-figure salaries immediately," he elucidated.
Nyambane further noted that the government acknowledged the high youth unemployment rate and had specifically identified ways to cultivate more skilled labour through TVET institutions.
"Other than having a high level of unemployment, there is also the aspect of employability of the young people. When it comes to employability, there is a huge element of skilled labour that is required but what we are churning out more white-collar jobs.
"Majority of the young people prefer that direction of wanting to study for jobs that are not skill-based. The reason why we have no plumbers, we have no electricians. A Chinese contractor doing road construction, what kind of people does he need? Does he need managers?" he posed.
A section of Kenyans online had disagreed with the former Nairobi County Communications Director's comments, maintaining that there was a lack of opportunities due to a larger unemployment crisis.
"There are people with Ph.D's on the street with boards asking for jobs standing on by the road from morning to evening... Nyambane aaabeg!," one wrote.
Others, however, agreed with him, with one stating: "I know getting jobs is hard and it takes connections and sometimes even luck instead qualifications and competence. But Nyambane has a point maybe wrong wording. Some peeps don't try to look for jobs at all. And some turn down low salaried jobs. Those are the entitled millennials."
