President Uhuru, Please Save Our Young Men.

Last week I got 3 very sad phone calls from 3 distraught women asking for help. One was a grandmother, the other a widowed mother, and the last a young nursing mother. They were seeking help for 3 young men who had been arrested by police. All the three young men are in their 20s. I tell their stories here, because they represent an emerging underclass of young men, likely to know prison as their home for the rest of their lives.

Moses and Victor are recently married and their wives are currently nursing infants less than 2 years old. Waifara on the other hand is 21 years old, and in love with 17 year old girl, and until last week, he was planning to marry her and start his own family. 

Moses was arrested with 9 other young men, all of them with young families. They are charged with “preparation of criminal activities,” but the young men say they were meeting for a “merry-go-round fund-raiser meeting.” The police asked for a permit for their meeting, but they had none, for none is required. These kind of fundraising meetings are very common in Kenya, in fact they are known as CHAMAS. No one needs a permit to hold a chama, except if you are a bunch of young men, who look suspicious i.e., poor. For the police, the young men could only meet with the sole purpose of “preparing for criminal activities” after with their history of poverty, crime is the only employer.  

Victor on the other hand worked for an auction company. Together with his colleagues are locked up at Industrial area remand house. Victor and his colleagues reported to work like they always do on one Tuesday; only this time, they fell on tough luck. [In the interest of disclosure, I will say, I hate auctioneers and the goons they hire]. As they were attempting to auction property they were told had been attached already, police raided on them with accusation of theft. It turns out their employer had forgotten to get the right papers before the auction. Victor would not have known that, in fact he got to know of such a process as the sentence was being read for him at the court room.  His young wife, just like Moses’ is now struggling to raise their child alone – another narrative of single motherhood is being re-born. 

Waifara on the other hand is an orphan. His mother died while he was still in primary school, and has been raised by his grandmother. He happens to be in love with a girl from a rich background but also younger than him. The parents of the girl have accused him of sexual assault. While the girl objects to these accusations, saying they are in love and plan to get married, her parents will have none of it. There is no way she will get married to an orphan. Were the boy from a rich background, the girl’s parents would probably have been more concerned about contraception. 

These three cases represent an emerging narrative of a growing underclass of young men in Kiambu (and Central Province) whose very existence is increasingly criminalized. One needs to trace their history to the 1980s and 90s when the phenomenon of single-mothers and female headed families emerged in the region. According to demographic data, female headed families in Central region are about 34%. They also earn less, than their male headed family which is an indicator of educational outcomes.  Indeed a total of 48% of Kiambu County residents only have primary level of education, and Gatundu South, has the highest number of residents with no formal education at 14%. These factors impact on the life outcomes of our young people.

Crime and poverty are renowned good bedfellows. With the increase of terrorism in the country, a new phenomenon of “preventative policing” is emerging. This has translated into arresting the criminal before he inflicts criminal harm. Unfortunately, poverty is increasingly being confused for crime. Moses, a quintessential hard worker, who is very determined to break from inter-generational inheritance of poverty, is now locked up in jail, and if he does not come out soon, his son is likely to join him in there, in a few years’ time.

ILO two-dimensional approach to develop the SPF

That is why it is important to advocate for a new leadership in Kiambu. Unfortunately, people in Kiambu elect leaders based on their wealth and business acumen. To get elected in Kiambu, one would have to be wealthy, even if such may be of questionable origin. Yet, these people may not always realize the much needed change. It would be great if President Kenyatta, whose home constituency has the highest number of persons with no formal education, to support a changed approach to leadership in Kiambu.

There is need to begin to focus on social protection. As Kiambu continues to urbanize, it becomes necessary to provide for and protect for the most vulnerable members of the society through the entire continuum of life. Kiambu needs to develop and champion Social Protection Floor.

 

I wish to make a personal appeal to President Kenyatta, to use the social capital that he has in Kiambu, to begin to support new leadership for the County. If he were for example to support a candidate within the county, with a mandate to be Social Protection Champion, it wold then become possible to stop the spiralling vulnerability faced by many in Kiambu.  In particular I would urge that as TNA looks for a candidate for Gatundu South following the untimely demise of Hon. Ngugi Nyumu to look at a candidate who may not necessarily be political, but can champion Social protection issues. 

The issue of Social Protection, is likely to be an impressive campaign  promise for re-election, but it will only be believed if there is a track record. Mr. President, you can create that track record by appointing believers in social protection to your government.