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{
    "id": 786043,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/786043/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 314,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. (Ms.) Gitau",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 974,
        "legal_name": "Faith Wairimu Gitau",
        "slug": "faith-wairimu-gitau"
    },
    "content": "of good conduct (DCI), higher education loan clearance certificate (HELB), EACC clearance, credit reference certificate (CRB); further concerned that these documents cost not less than four thousand five hundred shillings (Kshs4,500) to acquire; deeply concerned that most of the jobseekers in the youth bracket cannot raise this prohibitive amount for purposes of job application; this House urges the Government, through the Ministry of Public Service, Youth and Gender Affairs to waive the payment of these fees by job-seeking youth in the country, and further urges the Ministry to immediately fast-track implementation of the National Employment Authority Act which requires the establishment and maintenance of integrated and up-to-date database of all persons seeking employment. From the outset, I wish to state that the matter of youth and youth empowerment are central to the very development of the country. Without an enabled youth population, State development cannot be achieved in totality. Having said that, I wish to give several key data relating to the youth which, as a House, we need to be alive to: 1. The 2017 Human Development Index shows that Kenya’s rate of unemployment is now equal to those of neighbouring Ethiopia and Rwanda combined. This highlights the irony of economic policies that have sustained growth without generating jobs leading to poor distribution of benefits of growth. 2. Nearly four in every 10 Kenyans (39.1 per cent) of those who have attained working age have no jobs - the worst level of unemployment in the region. This is compared to Tanzania’s 24 per cent, Ethiopia’s 21.6 per cent, Uganda’s 81.1 per cent and Rwanda’s 17.1 per cent. 3. Among the youth, unemployment is estimated to stand at 17.6 per cent compared to 6.3 per cent for Tanzania, 6 per cent for Uganda, 7.6 per cent for Ethiopia and 3 per cent in Rwanda. 4. More than 500,000 young people join the job market every year. Those are grim facts that, we, as leaders, have to grapple with. The question that every youth is left pondering over is: What is in store for the Kenyan youth? What lies ahead? The Motion seeks to empower the youth in job seeking. Whereas entrepreneurship and self-employment are encouraged, it is observed that not every school-leaving youth can be engaged in the informal sector. There will always be young people seeking employment in one way or the other. It is, therefore, on this basis that punishing young people for being unemployed should be vehemently opposed by this House. For example, when the Government requires to be paid for a certificate of good conduct, it seems like the Government is punishing the youth for not having a criminal record. In any case, it takes a very long time before those records are availed when sought. This being the age of technology, those records ought to be easily accessible through an updated database with the Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI). I have met very educated youth from Ndaragwa to Kipipiri, Ol Jorok to Ol Kalou and Kinangop, who have lost hope of ever getting employed especially in Government institutions. You find one of the requirements being a credit reference bureau clearance report before employment. For a young person in Mandera, for example, that means travelling to Nairobi to acquire this clearance. However, this in itself does not mean that the person is guaranteed employment. They will make all the efforts but later fail to be picked. This is very disheartening."
}