Kenya is a youthful nation with about 75 per cent of her population comprising people under the age of 40.
President Uhuru Kenyatta, in an address to Kenyans during the launch of Jubilee Party's manifesto at Kasarani Stadium in 2017, made a promise to prioritise the youth in employment and pledged to create at least 6.5 million jobs by 2022.
The president vowed to expand the participation of young people in national development by assuring them that 30% of all appointments, projects and budgets would be targeted towards them.
He assured Kenyans that he would liaise with the likes of Nairobi governor Mike Sonko, Starehe MP Charles Njagua and other youthful leaders in Jubilee to empower Kenyan youth.
“Young people are the cornerstone of Kenya’s future. We have a large pool of talented and entrepreneurial youth who seek opportunities, not handouts. Young people that seek to utilise their talents.
"Our transformation programme aims to harness this creative energy by providing skills and opportunity to young people to take our country to the next level,” the president assured in his address at the time.
The Standard reported that over 14,000 people, a great number of them in the youth bracket, lost their jobs in 2019 after about nine companies ceased operations in the country. The trend was inconsistent with the government's pledge to create an enabling environment for companies to grow and employ more young people.
Recent Appointments
On Monday, October 14, Uhuru shocked Kenyans when he appointed former Othaya MP Mary Wambui, 69, to chair the National Employment Authority, a decision that outraged Kenyans on the backdrop of several other appointments that highlighted President Kenyatta's apparent decision to ignore younger candidates.
Kenyans questioned the president's judgement and his perception of the abilities of the country's youth.
Wambui's appointment followed a series of recent nominations made by the president, many of them dominated by old men and women, some of whom have served in previous governments.
The most notable was former Head of Civil Service, Francis Muthaura, who was appointed to chair the Kenya Revenue Authority for a three-year term.
In December 2018, Uhuru appointed former Vice President Moody Awori as the chair of the Sports, Art and Social Development Fund.
The president would go ahead to later defend his appointment of the 92-year-old, arguing that Awori would prevent misappropriation of the funds, reiterating his distrust for younger Kenyans.
“If you see how young people we have trusted with positions steal public money, it's rather I appoint somebody like Awori whom I am sure will protect your money to ensure intended developments and services get back to the people,” Uhuru was quoted by The Standard on December 6, 2018.
Constitutional Resolve
Starehe MP Charles Njagua on Aril 29, tabled a motion before the National Assembly, still pending, seeking to reduce the retirement age to 50 from 60. Njagua admitted that passing the bill would create jobs for the millions of young unemployed Kenyans.
On Thursday, October 17, 2019, Reuters reported that President Kenyatta disapproved measures in the 2019/20 budget that retained a cap on commercial lending rates, requiring Parliament to convene in November to examine the president’s exhortations on the contents of the Finance Bill 2016.
In 2016, Kenyatta ascended into law the Finacial Bill 2016 which capped lending rates at 4 per cent. That meant that banks were restricted on the amount of interest they would generate loans.
