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Dr David Matsanga is the Chairman of Pan African Forum. He is a Political Scientist and International Conflict Resolution Expert.

Fifth Estate

Matsanga: Kenyan youth need jobs not handouts

By Dr.David Matsanga in London United Kingdom

I stand to be counted as an African who in 2007-2008 stood by the Ocampo six at The Hague .I did not know them personally but because I had bad ICC experience in my country Uganda, I decided to defend Kenya from the malcontents of ICC and George Soros .

As an elder in Africa by virtue of my age, I don’t hide things under the table but history will judge me whether positively or harshly. The truth is that if things go by the trends, Kenya is facing or HURTLING To a CONFLICT.

I will address, head-on, the current standoff in Kenyan politics which people are fearing to say. According to data, from the 2019 National Census in Kenya, 75% of the whole population is below 35 years. Yet, to further break it down, the working population, 15-64 years, is 57.1%.

I believe that even today to refine the whole data to paint a clear portrait of what the Deputy President’s camp in Kenya fondly refers to as hustlers, the ages of 18-34years are 29% of the whole population, which constitutes 13.8 million Kenyans. That is the way I have used the data based on the census of 2019.

I should remind the Deputy President that depending on data he reviews on unemployment; averagely, 80% of unemployed Kenyans are below the age of 35 years. Unemployment nationally standards at 35%, with about 600,000 youths joining the job market each year.

I, therefore, want to accept that the same Government where he presides over as Deputy President that this is a serious issue, a national crisis, that goes beyond the nostrum of predatory opportunism and political goal-scoring. The type we have all witnessed this week of handouts or tokens.

Before, I proceed. Let me put it this way; is the Deputy President sincere in his so-called giving to the hustlers and avoiding the rest of citizens who might not be hustlers but need the services?
First, I have a serious problem with the term “hustler”, this is a criminal word (slang) used to glorify gangsterism and other opaque methods used to get money by unscrupulous characters.
In basic English, ” hustler” means; “a person who employs fraudulent or unscrupulous methods to obtain money; swindler.”Oxford learners dictionary defines ” hustler” as ” a person who tries to trick someone into giving them money”

The Thesaurus dictionary of Synonyms and Antonyms, further adds a nail in this coffin of integrity by listing the following as synonymous with hustler: “Swindlers, hooker, call girl, prostitute, fraudsters”, to mention but a few.

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Evidently, the Deputy President is functionally miseducating the society by unknowingly getting youths to embrace a thuggish calling, that will eventually lead to more troubles of creating roaming potential rascals or future career criminals.

On the flip, assuming the context of his speech, and activities, by pretending that his unholy definition of the term “hustler” is a “go-getter” This is similar to Hutus calling Tsutsi by other names. This is the danger that the Government must stop.

Charity begins at home. He is already at a high position having worked hard from chicken selling to a person of not hustler but middle class, with enough to feed his children for generations.

Why does the Deputy President of Kenya sacrifice those generations who want to rise like him by giving them slashers, or lawnmowers or handcarts (mikokoteni) instead of telling them to go to school like he did as a graduate then he started hustling and keeping chicken? The graduates frequenting his house for those menial job handouts need to be educated on how to focus on higher targets of society?

You, and I, know that the DP in his usual self will never do that even in his nightmares, needless to say, that his advise to the young generation worries me as an elder in Africa . There are many highly qualified educated, and experienced Kenyans who need the same but are being excluded by the word hustler.

I can now say without fear that this proves that the whole program is a laughable paradox based on the old Latin phrase : “Quod licet Jovis, non licet bovis (what is good for Jupiter, is not allowed to the bull).

I want to state again that, granted, history shows that nations with such youthful populations tap into their energy, innovativeness, vibrancy, resilience, and ambition as part of a sustainable roadmap to economic growth and development.

I gjve free political advice that the Deputy president, who is part of the presidency should be busy at a personal level supporting deliberate efforts by the president (and the government) like the BIG FOUR agenda among others to properly harness the potential in these youths.

I want to wind up saying that I am very curious, this type of politics could lead to fragmentation of Kenya. Would not give youths a sustainable employment avenue on one end, but force them to rely on the dished wheelbarrow, donkey carts, and water tanks. This would cause a SOCIETY of the children of the poor in what seems like showboating enterprise than genuine help to the communities in Nairobi.

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I look at history and say that at 29 years in 1950s, the late Tom Mboya was airlifting Kenyan youths and children of the poor masses to the United States for studies to empower them with skills and tools of analysis. These included Obama’s father who gave birth to the first black man from Africa to lead the USA.

Millions in Kenya need such national projects, that reshaped the nation to greatness. Think about it, had Tom Mboya, embraced these dangerous gimmickry used by the Deputy President, where would Obama be. How would Kenya be today? How would we stand high in Africa? As an elder who has stood by Kenya that is my opinion.

Finally, the questions that I ask are as follows:

First given the unemployment rate of 35% of 13.8 million youths, or alternatively, just the 600,000 youths who join the labor market each year; will Deputy President gift them all these things he is giving out? This is practically impossible! Secondly, why can’t the Deputy Support the manufacturing as a basis of the Big 4 and open an industry that manufactures? Why not sponsor cottage industries that will employ many.
Finally, why all these fresh discriminatory ideas that could have been put in Jubilee’s final agenda and then use them to leave a legacy as a Deputy to President Uhuru Kenyatta?

I leave these questions to the public.

God bless Kenya

The writer is a Political Scientist and International Relations with Conflict Resolution Expert bias, an investigative Journalist and a Pan African based in Surrey London, the United Kingdom.

Twitter @Dr.David Matsanga

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