Kenyan youth are turning tables on policymakers and development organisations, accusing them of recycling short-term fixes while ignoring unstable jobs, voter apathy and a mental health crisis.
They spoke at a forum on Thursday in Westlands, themed "Whose Future Is It Anyway?", convened by Nigerian youth leadership organisation Leadership, Effectiveness, Accountability and Professionalism (LEAP) Africa as it begins formal engagement in Kenya, its gateway into East Africa.
Youth aged 15 to 34 make up about 35 per cent of Kenya's population, yet face an unemployment rate of around 67 per cent, five times the national average, with over one million young Kenyans entering the labour market every year, many lacking adequate skills or opportunities.
With just 10 per cent of the workforce in formal employment, many young people are trapped in low-skilled, self-employed roles, struggling to thrive.
It is against this backdrop that participants questioned the push for digital piecework as a pathway to employment, arguing that high business failure rates expose structural weaknesses in an economy being sold to young people as an opportunity.
"Statistics say that businesses started in sub-Saharan Africa, 70 per cent of them are bound to fail before they hit their five-year mark. We are also talking about the gig economy, but what is this kind of structured job where you have a job today and then in two weeks you're jobless?" said Annmercy, an information technology expert focused on governance.
She challenged organisations and policymakers to move beyond quick fixes.
"We have to include young people to come up with sustainable ways that empower and create working systems to help young people generate jobs that will employ other young people and themselves," Annmercy added.
Youth leader Benson Gachoki drew a contrast between Kenya's civic struggles and outright repression elsewhere in the region, warning that different symptoms point to the same disease.
"The same issues we have are almost the same. However, in countries like Uganda, there is oppression of the media and the silencing of dissenting voices," Gachoki noted.
"In a country like Kenya, which is headed to an election, we are struggling with young people who are not involved in elections and voter apathy," said Gachoki.
The forum concluded that this apathy is not indifference but a symptom of democratic processes that consistently lock youth out.
Mental health emerged as an unexpected but forceful thread running through the entire discussion.
Amabelle Nwakanma, LEAP Africa's director of programmes and partnerships, argued that no leadership agenda can succeed while ignoring the psychological toll it takes on young people.
"This generation of young people are some of the most mentally unwell in history," said Nwakanma, citing anxiety, depression and burnout driven by global crises and social media pressure.
"You cannot be trying to optimise them as leaders, as humans, and you're not addressing the health and well-being. We have to do more of those programs here."
The forum demanded that organisations be data-driven, culturally grounded and genuinely led by youth rather than simply for them.
