Guest Writer
Lately in the news there was a young graduate who could not find a job that committed suicide. Quite unfortunate for this kind of occurrence. Yet still there are probably more that don’t come to the media attention and others who are suffering a lot of depression.
Sometimes I envy President William Samoei Ruto for his meteoric rise and well executed strategy to be the fifth (5th) president of Kenya but quite often I don’t. To begin with I wish he succeeds in transforming Kenya into a viable republic and a prosperous nation. This is a matter of job creation and the monstrosity of unemployment and underemployment in Kenya.
Quite often in the morning while moving around Nairobi and environs I feel like giving up. Whenever I have a chance to travel in different places in the country including rural areas especially in smaller towns and shopping centres, I feel desperate that life is tough watching the so many people withering away struggling and hoping the future can be better immediately and not tomorrow and some (many) who look to have given up already.
The matter of jobs is a serious challenge in Kenya. As I wrote this article, a few minutes before I started, a former colleague in one major insurance company who happened to have been retrenched there asked me what happens in Kenya’s corporate space that not so many people apparently nowadays retire comfortably after working for so many years.
He pointed out that so many end up losing jobs in the course of time through retrenchments and even sackings. I did point out that a lot changes in an economy in the course of time and there is a lot that happens in the world that affects businesses everywhere including in Kenya.
Quite often some lose jobs not because their employers are bad but the economic or business circumstances can’t allow them to continue.
I also know the numerous who lose jobs perhaps due to bad culture and management relationships that put stop to their jobs. Businesses also fail and as they make losses they close down or move to other countries where they can make money.
Consequently, as they close down or move out, they do away with local staff. Others downsize and they are forced to downsize the number of workers. Other workers obviously due to their own fault like non performance or criminal activities and such lose jobs.
But overall there are external factors and some internal factors beyond employees control that lead to job losses. Moreover, we have a big economic problem and massive unemployment that means many can’t find jobs or suitable ones.
Lately in the news there was a young graduate who could not find a job that committed suicide. Quite unfortunate for this kind of occurrence. Yet still there are probably more that don’t come to the media attention and others who are suffering a lot of depression.
I have also seen cases of people getting retrenched and ending up with debilitating health that encumber them for life. Yet still there are many more out there struggling to eke a living in work that is not assured the next day or are in seasonal jobs.
There are many others who hardly find work or are too irregular to be called a job of any respect. These and more paint a horrid picture of our economy.
William Samoei Ruto, when he was inaugurated as Deputy President in 2013 in their joint ticket with Uhuru Kenyatta after winning the presidency, his speech touched a lot on employment.
He did say that the government will be focused to create opportunities so that the menace of unemployment can be tamed once and for all. Over time however we have faced a myriad of problems that keep so many unemployed still. Now that the same William Ruto has become the president, the ball is in his court.
This is where I was saying such matters are not easy to deal with and hence my alluding to part of his job that makes it a challenge to envy. I have overheard many people say that if with the level of energy President Ruto has won’t be able to crack on solving the unemployment mess, they would not easily believe anybody will easily do so.
I have my reservations on solving the unemployment crisis but I’m still optimistic there is a way out. It starts with exploring quick wins such as export of labour and working hard on instigating a lot of labour intensive work and targeting such sectors and industries immediately.
Such includes tourism, construction of all kinds (houses, roads of all kinds, dams, irrigation systems etc). As we do that we work extra hard to bring more digital economy jobs, improve manufacturing (there should be massive import substitution push and for exports) and other areas where we have key potentials for competitive advantages.
It is possible but not easy. Mr. President I wish you all the best. It is not an easy endeavour but we must slay the dragon of unemployment which is one of the key factors for poverty in the country.
