Youth must begin to view politics as an investment
Kenya has quite a number of structural, systemic and policy problems affecting the needs of the youth, who have suffered for long as politicians keep making promises they cannot deliver.
In Kenya, 25 per cent of the population comprises youth (aged 18-34 years) while 43 per cent fall below the 15-year-old age bracket. It is vital that solutions-based politics and leadership is embraced, which can only be achieved if people elect the right people into office.
Unfortunately, many young people are suffering from voter apathy from the constant disappointment by politicians. Young people are tired! Every election, they elect people who they believe are credible leaders only for them to turn into selfserving and inaccessible characters when they get into office.
When MCAs are not jumping from one junket to another in the search of allowances, MPs are misappropriating CDF and bursaries or giving the latter to underserving cases while genuine ones do not get any. Don’t Kenya youth deserve more?
Many young people feel like they are chained to an endless leadership problem and that there is no way out. Youth rights are, and should remain human rights, that are indivisible and universal to all. We must start looking at politics as an investment.
The vote you have is an investment, what returns is it guarantying you? What are the yields you have harvested so far? Your vote is your voice; that Sh1 million jackpot that you got and you are investing. How do you want to see the economy grow?
We need to Improve education, including technical education, ensure health care for all, sound infrastructure across the country, access to resources, loans and, most importantly, taxes should be friendly to businesses and to all Kenyans.
Top companies entrust their operations in the hands of the best managers.
The youth must change how political business is done in this country by electing competent leaders. We need to get tired of this vijana cliché all the time when it comes to leadership.
For politicians to stop making the many false election pledges, young people need to ask tough questions and demand answers.
The leaders should convincingly explain to Kenyans how they intend to solve the numerous systemic, policy and structural problems that we have as a country.
We need sustainable, longterm solutions. We should totally reject solutions that are short term, unsustainable, unreasonable and unrealistic.
We do not need “the better devil” as many of us are now chanting in the streets. It is dishonest to claim that Kenyans have limited choices when it comes to leadership. — The writer is a youth activist
