A young engineer set himself ablaze last week in Mombasa, and a young medical doctor committed suicide for lack of a decent job sometimes in May this year, and many other young persons and Kenyans in general are dying under the same circumstances. A word of caution to young people and Kenyans is that despite the challenges, all odds can be surmounted with time. Nine things should be done henceforth to ensure jobs are plenty for Kenyans. First, diversify our economic activities and reduce overreliance on traditional job creating ventures. There is need to increase the range of employment generating activities ranging from profitable agriculture and agribusiness, mining, service and allied industry, manufacturing, tourism and leveraging on our well-developed Information Communication Technology (ICT) to create more employment opportunities.
Secondly, pursue policies that encourage application of labour-intensive methods of production to absorb many jobless Kenyans in the short term before resorting to technology and highly skilled intensive jobs. Thirdly, the private sector should work with the public sector to create more employment opportunities. It has been documented that the Kenyan private sector contributes up to 80 percent of the GDP and as such, it has the capacity to partner to create more jobs for Kenyans. Fourthly, the ongoing education reforms, including adoption of the CBC curriculum and entrenching of the TIVETs should ensure that we have a relevant education system to address the challenges of unemployment and job creation. The education system should inculcate people skills of communication, patience, problem solving, global and national responsibility and duty of care, and the need for good values throughout to grow and churn out an all-round graduate capable of undertaking national and global job opportunities.
Fifth, encourage more Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) flows into the country to stimulate economic growth, increase employment opportunities, and development of human resources, financial and technical areas. Sixth, encourage efficient utilization of local resources like minerals, tourism, good soils and favourable climate for enhanced agriculture and livestock farming among others. Seventh, Kenyans interested in business should be able to access cheap and affordable investment funds like hustler, Uwezo and women enterprise funds and ensure effective utilization and repayment of these funds. Eighth, agriculture and rural economic development initiatives should be enhanced and made profitable. Ninth, Kenyans should explore foreign based jobs in the UN and World Bank based agencies that have massive jobs that have not been fully taken up by Kenyans. Dr Giti is an urban management, public – private partnerships (PPP) and environment specialist. mutegigiti@gmail.com , @danielgiti
Dr. Daniel Mutegi Giti 