Daily Nation
Employment opportunities posted at an Illinois Employment and Training Center on February 5, 2004 in Arlington Heights, Illinois. Bad governance has become a major constraint to youth social mobility because it encourages youth unemployment. PHOTO | AFP
In Summary
Young people in the age group of 15-35 years require social, economic and political support to realise their full potential.
The Arab Spring is a pointer to what determined young people can do to even the most intolerant and dictatorial regimes in the 21st Century.
The Cold War period witnessed some of the most brutal and oppressive regimes on the continent.
The Cold War also significantly undermined the growth and maturity of democratic governance and the effective participation of young people in political decision-making processes.
Domestic pressure for political reform was supported by Africa’s development partners who introduced conditionality in their relations with African leaders.
In return for foreign aid, grants and technical assistance, African states were required to open up their political space and organise free and fair elections.
Another enduring consequence of the collapse of communism was the unprecedented violence in many African states.
(Liberia, Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of Congo). In all of these instances, a recurrent factor was the prominent roles played by the youth.
The presence of millions of idle, and in some cases unemployable youth, across the continent that had participated in the political violence and civil wars, drew global attention to the plight of young people in Africa.
National development will continue to elude the continent as long as it’s most productive population is unable to contribute effectively to political decision making.
The youth are perceived as the gate keepers of the future.
Second, young people in the age group of 15-35 years require social, economic and political support to realise their full potential.
Young people are also full of energy, ambition, enthusiasm and creativity; but often experience economic, social and cultural uncertainties that may stunt their growth and development.
BAD GOVERNANCE
In an age of breath-taking globalisation, young people connect easily with their peers across the globe, with grave consequences for national, regional and global peace and security.
The Arab Spring is a pointer to what determined young people can do to even the most intolerant and dictatorial regimes in the 21st Century.
There is a popular perception that the youth are apolitical, lethargic or at best played only marginal roles in governance after independence in the 1960s.
This viewpoint is due largely to the domination of the political and governance space by the old guard.
This narrative has changed; it is just that the youth have not been able to use their numerical superiority to put in place policies that would address their critical issues such as unemployment and access to qualitative education.
More often than not, votes do not count at elections. As well, elections are an extremely capital intensive affair.
Increasingly, bad governance has become a major constraint to youth social mobility because it encourages corruption, promotes social exclusion, alienation and mass youth unemployment.
However, are African youth doomed? What opportunities exist for them in the 21st Century, and under what conditions can such openings be created and effectively accessed?
WHAT IT TAKES
African youth have historically played key and diverse roles in the transformation of their societies.
But if left to idling around they can also be disastrous.
They constituted the majority of those who took to the streets in Kenya in 2007 after the disputed elections.
The same happens in other countries as well, for example in Cote d’Ivoire in 2010.
Consolidating good governance ethos will be an effective way of addressing societal ills such as rampant corruption, marginalisation, cronyism and ethnicity, which are among the salient factors that have “short-changed” young people.
The youth crisis will be successfully tackled if the youth prize and defend democracy and good governance.
This article reflects the views of authors in their respective capacities
Authors: Dr. Kellen Kiambati and Dr. Anne Kariuki
