A resident of Nairobi has become a common fixture along the busy Uhuru Highway for the past one week holding a placard with a touching message to Kenyans.
Zachariah Murimi, a husband to an expectant wife and a father, told Kenyans.co.ke on Wednesday, September 23, that he was looking to secure a job of any kind, having been jobless for seven months.
Murimi, who was previously a resident of Mombasa County, stated that the manual jobs he used to get had suddenly become scarce, leading to financial constraints that saw him and his family kicked out of a house he had rented in Mombasa.
He told Kenyans that the landlord locked the house over unpaid rent, adding that his important documents were also locked in the house.
"Previously, I did stock-taking for a company in Mombasa and other manual jobs. I am also a qualified driver, only that my license expired last year. I am open to any job opportunities at the moment," Murimi told this writer.
Murimi stated that a couple of Kenyans had reached out to him and asked that he sends his curriculum vitae, but he is yet to receive an offer.
"I have been coming here daily from Tuesday. It's only during weekends that I don't show up here because there is little traffic, and so not many people will see my placard," he stated.
He stated that his situation got worse following the COVID-19 outbreak in March 2020.
According to a report by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), 1,841,918 Kenyans were unemployed in the months of April, May and June 2020.
Businesses have been closing down while others have been downsizing, rendering many Kenyans jobless especially in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, a situation that could lead to stress among jobless youth.
Esther Mbau, a psychologist, told Kenyans.co.ke that feelings of hopelessness and despondency were associated with unemployment.
"When one is able to work, they are able to make a contribution to his or her community and because this is not happening, they get into mental distress and they do not feel like they are actually making an impact in their lives," Mbau stated.
