Kenya and its people never cease to amaze, and with lackluster leadership, it is no wonder that the nation that was once a top tier powerhouse on the continent, is now a struggling economy with high unemployment rates and staggering levels of dissatisfaction among its people.
Information and Communications Technology CS Joe Mucheru has grabbed the attention of the outspoken members of K.O.T with news of him appointing a dead man who went by the name Robert Kochalle to the Kenya Film and Classification Board. The incident caused an uproar when Mucheru went on to appoint Kochalle’s widow in his place after realising he appointed a dead man to the board. According to a report on The Daily Nation, “in a special Gazette notice dated October 18, Mr. Mucheru appointed Charity Kochalle to the office he had assigned her late husband Robert.”
But based on the reactions of many from the Twitterverse, this might just indicate a larger syndicate that enables more corruption, impunity and deteriorating living standards for the citizenry.
My grandpa died in 2006 but by the look of things he has a better chance of securing a govt job than me.
From today onwards I'll be using his CV and accompany it with his death certificate.Thanks Joe Mucheru and President Uhuru Kenyatta for caring for the youths.
— TH3 ÏNCR3DÏBLY T3RRÏBL3! (@General_Waitina) October 18, 2019
Joe Mucheru has confirmed that he is a joke and if he has any dignity left in him, he should resign. Reappointing a dead man as a board member of KFCB should trigger one's self conscious into an automatic resignation.
— UNDERRATED NINJA (@iamjoseh_) October 18, 2019
Joe Mucheru is a visionary, transformative & competent CS. But… reappointing a dead person to a job, is painting himself in a bad light especially when the employment rate is soaring.
— PL0_Lumumba (@PL0_Lumumba) October 18, 2019
Y'all acting surprised because Joe Mucheru reappointed a man who died 1 year ago and later replaced his name with his wife?
Have you forgotten Embu county has an imaginary hospital complete with board members, doctors and nurses?
It's a ghost workers nation.— TH3 ÏNCR3DÏBLY T3RRÏBL3! (@General_Waitina) October 18, 2019
ICT interviews ongoing.. #JoeMucheru #KOTLOYAL pic.twitter.com/YJhlm6klBM
— Element295🇮🇷 (@element295) October 18, 2019
The outrage sparked by the appointment attributed to the high levels of unemployment among the youth. With thousands of graduates leaving institutions of higher learning, to find no jobs within the current employment structure is worrisome for many.
According to a World Bank report, Kenya’s youth unemployment situation is particularly serious. For instance, in the period 1998-2005, aggregate unemployment fell from 15% to 12.5%, but the share of the youth in unemployment rose from 60% to 72 %. And the rate of joblessness is almost 40% of youth or an estimated 5.2 million young adults. This is double the adult average of 21 percent.
Though it is not clear what steps will be taken to correct the matter, Mucheru is under pressure to resign.
