By Lilian Museka
Nairobi, Kenya: In the heart of the bustling city of Nairobi, where everybody migrates to look for opportunities, Cynthia Kawira has been hopeful of gaining meaningful employment having graduated from The Cooperative University of Kenya as a social worker in 2022.
As the days turned into weeks and weeks into months, Cynthia’s optimism began to wane. The job applications she sent out seemed to disappear into an abyss, and the few interviews she managed to secure ended with polite rejections.
She is among the growing youthful generation brimming with aspirations and ambitions but facing the unyielding tide of youth unemployment. She however did not get discouraged and decided to take up volunteer work to enhance her skills.
“I took up the paralegal training offered by Crime Si Poa so that am able to provide legal awareness to my community members rather than just sitting idle. I am now volunteering with the organization, conducting youth empowerment programmes in Kajiado County; educating them on access to justice, crime, drugs and substance abuse, and environmental conservation. I look forward to specialize in counseling issues in legal law, emotional and psychological matters,” she says.
According to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) report released early this year, the number of Kenyans without jobs increased to more than 2.97 million in the last quarter of 2022 from 2.89 million in the previous quarter, underscoring the labour market woes in the wake of elevated inflation and reduced activity in the dominant agricultural sector. The report states that more than half of the numbers are youthful population, underlining the growing crisis of youth unemployment in the country.
During a TV show at TV47 to commemorate this year’s International Day of Youth with the theme; Green Skills for Youth, Towards a Sustainable World, Cynthia underscored the fact that as much as colleges and universities were releasing many graduates in the job market, few are able to secure opportunities, most who end up in casual jobs in areas not related to their profession.
“Most youths find it hard to accept that they are unemployed after working hard and graduating, hence feel uncomfortable to work in areas not in their line of career. I however employ them to take up the positions for their skills development because the job market requires someone to have different skills, you never know where you may land. It also gives you an opportunity to learn leadership skills,” she said during the show.
Cynthia however called on the government to review the education curriculum so that it is skills-based and promotes entrepreneurship rather than focus on passing exams. This she said would help in addressing the issue of unemployment.
In 2017, the government introduced the Kenyan Competence-Based Curriculum (CBC) designed to emphasize the significance of developing skills and knowledge and also applying those competencies to real-life situations.
Crime Si Poa Executive Director, Mr. Peter Ouko, in his contribution during the show, underscored the fact that even though many youths had acquired skills in their studies, a number of them were taking up manual jobs. Those who lack opportunities are forced into crime.
Having founded Crime Si Poa while in prison following a wrongful conviction, Peter said he encountered a large number of youths in the correctional facility, some had also been wrongfully convicted. “Crime So Poa started through sensitization against crime from prison and we used our networks outside to reach out to the youth,” he adds.
Noting that there is a need to create alternatives to address the issue of unemployment, he called on the government to simplify the process of acquisition of passports so that many youths can apply and seek opportunities in other countries.
“Right now, the process of getting a passport is good as it is digital but it can be further simplified and the time shortened so that many youths can acquire and seek opportunities outside as this will help in reducing crime levels in the country,” he said.
