Shiku, you deserve accolades for this thought-provoking letter. My response broadens the scope by examining some contributing factors to moral degeneracy in Kenya. The growing socio-economic disparity among Kenyan youths is shocking and it’s a paradox that the Grand Coalition Government claims that a lot has been done and will be done to secure their wellbeing. It is on record that the youth comprise the largest cohort of unemployed Kenyans, thus the huge numbers that resort to vice for survival.
Nepotism and tribalism in job allocation prevent many from joining the formal employment sector, which is infested by some politically-connected employees who are way past their “sell-by” dates. Such dynamics contribute to the increasing flight of economic refugees into the Diaspora, hence the “paperless” phenomenon.
The immediate former Government lied at least twice in 2003 and 2004, that it had fulfilled its election promise to create 500,000 jobs annually, especially for the youth. The reality on the ground from media reports and personal stories indicated otherwise. The current Government’s vision for the youth is posted here.
Regular media reports reveal a rapid spread of strip clubs, massage-parlors, escort services, pornography, date rapes, orgies, etc., which influence the younger generation and surpass Nairobi’s traditional “Koinange Street activities”. It’s all about adapting ruthless means to make money and the word “Love” is used only to sugar-coat the processes. As noted by Shiku, such acts cut across all social classes, leaving a lot to be desired about the youth who are viewed as “future leaders”.
Kenya is a key destination for international sex-tourists (including pedophiles) who engage in illegal sex with under-age girls and boys through local networks. Occasionally, the Kenyan media write horrendous stories of mothers sending their daughters to prostitute for food or money, mostly due to abject poverty.
Young boys are not safe either from suspected pedophiles like Father Kizito of the Catholic Church and many other unknown sex predators. The American owner of the Java Coffee House in Nairobi was recently jailed together with two Kenyan women who provided him with under-age girls for sex. Nowhere is safe, with increased pregnancies at girls’ safe-houses and primary schools, attributed to Kenyan male teachers and schoolboys. Cases of sex for grades or job acquisition are commonplace. In short, moral decay is prevalent even on the Internet, for money-making.
Is it too late? Are the programs initiated by the current Kenyan Government effectively reaching out to the younger generation amidst documented widespread corruption and alleged misappropriation of public funds? Media reports show that very few projects targeting the youth via the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) are sustainable. Additionally, nepotism is seen as a deciding factor in sponsoring projects through The Youth Enterprise and Development Fund. This must be reversed to include all.
For the first time globally, urban areas within the developing countries have more inhabitants than the rural areas. Plans to control rural-urban mobility have failed and cities like Nairobi have an influx of poor rural youth escaping poverty due to inadequate income-earning projects. Unfortunately, the harsh realities of Nairobi’s limited job market push such men and women into robberies, carjacking, kidnappings and prostitution among other gruesome acts, hence the name “Nairobbery”.
I had a good laugh while reading the newly published Nairobi City Council by-laws which forbid spitting in public, talking on the mobile phone while crossing the city streets and sitting on flower pots, etc. They are all good, except that more jobs should be created to eradicate idleness and dangerous activities. Singapore for example, has stringent by-laws which were imposed after a huge investment in the infrastructure. However, it’s difficult for one to pass by the stinking tons of garbage in Nairobi without spitting.
The recent preposterous act of trooping a section of the Soweto slum residents into the “modern” housing units in Kibera which lack running water and electricity, simply speaks volumes about wrong planning. Why couldn’t the concerned movers wait until those utilities were fixed? As usual, it was about political expediency.
It’s obvious that the Government cannot do everything for Kenyans. Therefore, the youth who engage in legitimate informal means of acquiring income to improve their well-being need acknowledging. This sector has uplifted and empowered thousands economically. Nevertheless, it is the Government and the private sector which have vast resources (money and materials) to boost local innovation through research and development (R&D). Talented youths should be identified and sponsored as part of the industrialization process planned in Vision 2030.
In my opinion, given the relatively centralized system of governance in Kenya, and notwithstanding the recent politically-motivated creation of new districts and provinces, it will still take a while to provide essential services in the rural and smaller urban areas. It is therefore urgent to rethink the distribution of income-generating projects. As long as core Government services remain in Nairobi, it will be the City of choice for many, yet its original geographical size was not meant to accommodate the ever increasing human population that does not match the available resources.
Related news: the 65 year-old American pedophile, Patrick Ken Larbaha:
Jared Odero
About the Author
High unemployment among the youth is worsening pornography, prostitution and stripping. Kenya’s economy is not growing fast enough to provide jobs to its youth. Each year, hundreds of thousands of people join the labor market from universities, colleges, high schools and grade school. There are simply not enough jobs for all of them. It’s obvious that many of these youth will turn to the sex trade in order to acquire the glitzy lifestyle they so much want to achieve.
A significant number of young women in Kenya earn their living by engaging in relationships with politicians, executives, diplomats, senior state security officials as well as tourists. The relationships involve the lavishing of gifts, housing, cars and cash in exchange for sex. Youthful men are also getting into the game by offering sexual services to upper-class men and women. At Kenya’s coast, there are married men getting involved with female tourists for money with the full knowledge of their own wives.
So brazen has the sex industry become that recruitment is done openly through newspaper classifieds and websites. One notorious website invites job applications complete with a passport photo with promises of, “immediate employment.”
http://nairobichronicle.wordpress.com/2009/06/17/pornography-worsening-weird-sex-practices/
What an interesting input by bwana Odero by chipping in on Shiku`s letter.These kind of debates are healthy and should feature here frequently(my opinion) but I beg to differ with you on some areas:
1-Soweto modern housing units in kibera had to be occupied unfinished(without water and electricity haha)coz of security.Nairobbery demands that anything unchained or uncemented lives dangerously.Those beautiful window glasses and bricks could have been stolen within no time!Providing security is v.expensive and thats why they opted for security by occupant.
Nepotism and tribalism is v.much alive and kicking in kenya but it is the common citizen who suffers at the expense of moneyed and powerful guys thus I will tend to agree with an input which was written some time ago by Bwana Milton who said that we have two tribes in kenya namely:The RICH and the POOR.
I was recently in jamhuri and visited a relative who lives in one of those segregated parts of nairobi.The kids were hurriedly sent for beverages at the nearest kiosk and told to buy ONLY from kiosk A and not B and when I asked why,the answer was”-we cant feed the mouth that will bite us tomorrow”! but when I visited the expensive posh joints of the same city,I noticed wealthy people from all tribes intermingling and having a good time.This reminded me of an article I recently read about how the cast system of india is vanishing due to rising economy(this is an example but not a comparison)
The cast system of india meant that if you were born to a lower cast,then you were to die serving the higher casts and not even miracles could change that!Now that is all changing for the better due to the growing economy hence my argument that our no.1 racist and tribalist is poverty!
Lastly,you are critisizing the creation of new districts aimed at bringing services nearer to the people but yet acknowledge that centralized system of governance in kenya is a hindrance to development-I simply don´t get it.
Noll åtta: Thanks for your insight which poked holes into my article. I won’t add much on the moving in of Soweto residents without the promised utilities. It is unfortunate if insecurity is what made them move in without them. The Government plans to spend over 12 billion Dollars in the Slum Upgrading Program for the next fifteen years, so I think that providing security as part of the package shouldn’t have been a problem.
After two weeks of moving in, some residents were already concerned that they could be forced to revive the “flying toilets” phenomenon. Moreover, one can just imagine using Western toilets without water; clogging in the sewer pipes might cause an epidemic.
On tribalism and nepotism, I narrowed down to the labor market situation wherein these tendencies are rife. My key argument was within the framework of Kenya’s social strata which defines the economic disequilibrium. It’s obvious the poor are at a disadvantage, hence the rural-urban flight.
Creating new districts without adequate funding for potential services is simply “to play politics”. A law court recently ruled that the move is illegal and goes against the original post-Independence administrative demarcations. Devolving power is great, but the process requires fiscal responsibility, which is not there at the moment. I highly doubt whether this process has been factored in the current national budget.
By the way, I did not contradict myself on the issue of “a centralized system of governance”. What I meant was that regardless of the new districts, and I quote my last sentence on this, “… it will still take a while to provide essential services in the rural and smaller urban areas”.
Once again, I was exploring some reasons behind the increased rural-urban mobility among the youth. Direct investment into these areas will generate more income to retain them, thereby lowering the growing socio-economic inequality.