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{
    "id": 557149,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/557149/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 167,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Sakaja",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13131,
        "legal_name": "Johnson Arthur Sakaja",
        "slug": "johnson-arthur-sakaja"
    },
    "content": "Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, it is very exciting because you have just recognized very beautiful and handsome young people seated on the Speaker’s Gallery. My eyesight is good and if you can see their faces, these are young people who are eager to eke out something for themselves. They want to finish their education, get a career and contribute to nation building. This Bill seeks to address the concerns of these young people and millions of other young people across the country. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I will quote Wangari Maathai’s acceptance Speech of the Nobel Prize in 2004. She said:- “If young people are gifts to the community and the world, then Africa is a continent rich in gifts.” This is, indeed, true because Africa, as a Continent, has a huge youth population. But one of the startling things is that once those young people finish schools, as they have seen with their elder siblings, sometimes that hope is diminished. In fact, too many times, their hopes are diminished because they cannot get jobs. As a country, we have had several policies trying to address the issue of unemployment, currently standing at over 40 per cent. It is startling despite the fact that our economy is emerging and is one of the biggest in Africa. If you look at different countries within the Continent - and I will mention a few - Benin has an unemployment rate of 1 per cent and Botswana is at 20 per cent. The other day we were looking at the events that are happening in Burundi and we were feeling that it is a country that is a bit behind us. But their unemployment rate is at 35 per cent. Ours is worse. Guinea’s unemployment rate is 22 per cent and Lesotho is at 25 per cent. Unemployment is the next greatest danger in this country. Unless this honourable House takes deliberate efforts and measures to address the issue of unemployment, we will be staring at a ticking time bomb. The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) released a report in January 2013 entitled “Kenya’s Youth Unemployment Challenge.” It said that in Kenya, indeed, unemployment is a youth problem. In as much as people of many ages are unemployed, 60 per cent of those unemployed are our young people. We have seen them all over in the jobless corners. The Report said:- “In this section, we confirm that youth unemployment in Kenya is a pressing problem, youth unemployment rate is high and youth represent, by far, the bulk of unemployed people. The employment problem in Kenya is, to a large degree, thus a youth problem. The most pressing challenge is to provide jobs for young people within the definition of youth.” The report goes on to say:- “A well-educated and guided youth population will be instrumental to the country’s emergence as a middle-income country.” Everything we are trying to do in this country, be it in regard to security, health or improving the economic rating of our country, can never be fully addressed until we look at the issue of youth unemployment. Despite all of this, if you look at the young people in your constituencies, instead of what would be despair, they are resilient, hardworking and trying to do businesses. We must play our part on this side of the divide. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}