The Youth Congress Position On The National Youth Council Act 2009 And Its Operationalization

Introduction

Although the National Youth Council Act that was legislated in 2009[1] was meant to ensure effective implementation of the Kenya National Youth Policy 2006 it has fallen quite short of the goal even before its operationalization. When the youth rallied behind the formulation of the Kenya National Youth Policy 2006 and proposed the formation of the National Youth Council it is because they wanted a reliable, independent, responsive and effective institution that could address their concerns most of which have been ignored over years.

They envisaged a National Youth Council that would serve as a lead and negotiating institution for the youth and amplifier of youth issues. They expected a National Youth Council that would ensure improvement of their socio-economic and political conditions through effective   representation and participation at various levels.

The Youth Congress an independent youth organization in Kenya whose mission is to provide a platform where the youth consolidate their position to improve their condition and realize their full potential believes that for the National Youth Council to play its role effectively then it should be credible, legitimate, inclusive, independent and sustainable. As it is the National Youth Council Act and its operationalization mechanisms do not afford the youth the proposed and desired National Youth Council. The Youth Congress has reviewed the National Youth Council Act 2009 and the proposed election guidelines and would like to point out some specific concerns.

A. NATIONAL YOUTH COUNCIL ACT 2009

i. Functions of the National Youth Council

Part II and in particular section 4 on the functions of the Council is largely indicative that the National Youth Council will not have any political power to ensure translation of pertinent policies into desired results. It is portrayed as a body that will only be responsible for promoting awareness and inclusion. In fact, the words used the most in this section are to promote, popularize, facilitate, link, liaise, mobilize, inspire, lobby and such others.  One of the principal functions of the National Youth Council should be to ensure effectiveness and responsiveness of all Government and its Agencies on youth and youth issues as espoused in the present constitution.

ii. Composition of the National Youth Council

The independence of the National Youth Council is not afforded in the National Youth Council Act 2009 as far as the composition of the Council is concerned. According to Part II section 5 of the Act, the Council shall be composed of sixteen elected youth representatives including the chairperson, one secretary, four Permanent Secretaries[2] and the Attorney General. The inclusion of Permanent Secretaries and the Attorney General all with voting powers could be problematic as it is likely to supplant the independent participation of the youth.

The argument that we need these Government officials because they work in the Ministries that have direct link to youth issues does not hold. If that is the case then, Kenya National Youth Policy 2006 that provide for the National Youth Council identified priority strategic areas for youth as; Employment (Ministry of Labour), Health (Ministry of Health and Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation), Education (Ministry of Education and Ministry of Higher Education Science and Technology ), Sports and recreation(Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports), Art and culture (Ministries of Youth Affairs and Sport , Ministry of State for National Heritage and Culture ), Environment(Ministry of Environment and Mineral Resources), youth empowerment and participation in national life (Ministry of State for Planning, National Development and Vision 2030) and Youth and media(Ministry of Information and Communication). Where is that direct link!

 

If link is presumed to be the purpose, then unemployment, Environment and Health are major youth concerns. Where are the Permanent Secretaries of these Ministries? There are Quasi Government bodies where the Permanent Secretaries do not constitute their membership and discharge their duties quite effectively e.g. Kenya National Commission on Human Rights. Such models should be used in establishing the National Youth Council to guarantee its independence and autonomy.

iii. Nexus with Ministry of Youth Affairs

The Act is silent on the envisaged relationship between the National Youth Council beyond establishment of the new body. This is matter that should have been stated clearly in the National Youth Council Act to avoid stand offs like what has been witnessed in the past in the Ministry. The National Youth Council should emerge as body that would be responsible for ensuring effectiveness and responsiveness of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports if at all there is still need to have both of them.

iv. Powers of the Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports

While one would expect an independent National Youth Council, the Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports still wields immense powers that are anchored in the National Youth Council Act. To exemplify, despite the elections of youth council members, the Minister still has the final say. According to section 5 subsection (1) (a) the Minister will be responsible for appointment of the chairperson nominated by the Council. The role of the Minister in this case should be to endorse the candidate elected not nominated by the council. In the first Schedule, section 2 subsection (b) states that a member of the Council can be removed from the office by the Minister. This could give the Minister leeway to victimize dissenting voices in the council and reconstitute the Council without proper procedures as has been witnessed in several occasions in the past.

v. Nexus with Advisory Board

The National Youth Council Act is silent on the envisaged relationship between the National Youth Council and the Board. This is matter that should have been stated clearly in the Act to avoid stand offs like what has been witnessed in the past in the Ministry. There is need to establish clear mechanisms for interactions between The National Youth Council and the Advisory Board.

 

B. ELECTION GUIDELINES FOR NATIONAL YOUTH COUNCIL

i) Effective Consultations

There lacks effective consultative mechanisms with the youth both in the formulation of The National Youth Council Act 2009 and the subsequent election guidelines. Where that has happened it has been sporadic, urban based and mostly arise as a result of demand by youth organizations. There hasn’t been a clear plan and strategy to consult the youth in their various clusters on the matter. This could have major implications on the ownership of the documents, process and results.

ii) Civic Awareness

There can be no doubt that the level of awareness on the Kenya National Youth Policy 2006, National Youth Act 2009, Election Guidelines and the concomitant process are painfully dismal. The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports has not rolled out plans to ensure massive awareness that would somewhat lead to broader participation and ownership by the youth. This is regardless of the fact that the elections were set to commence in February 2011. This can only mean that turn out will be quite low and the resulting National Youth Council will be quite illegitimate.

 

iii) Independence of the National Election Supervisory Committee

The guideline in bullet 4 proposes the establishment of the National Election Supervisory Committee at the national levels whose among the key function is; to co-ordinate the National Youth Council Election at the national levels and oversee the election at the National Youth Congress and National Delegate Forum. This Committee is constituted of five Permanent Secretary; Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Provincial Administration and Internal Affairs, Finance, Gender, Children and Social Services and the Office of the Prime Minister, the Attorney General, a representative of the Interim Independent Election Commission, Kenya National Commission on Human Rights and two representatives nominated by the Minister.

It also provides for election supervisory committee in every sub-Location, Location, Division, Constituency and County. These are constituted by; officer from the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Development and three persons nominated by faith based organization, non-governmental organization or a youth organization and appointed by the Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports.

Apparently, the composition of the National Election Supervisory Committee is 80% Government. This could jeopardize the autonomy of the elections since there are already concerns on influence and interference by some officials with the intended National Youth Council. Such elections should be steered and coordinated by an independent body that is fairly disinterested in the persons to be elected.

Similarly, bullet six of the guidelines also proposes the establishment of Election Supervisory Committee in every sub-location, location, division, and constituency and county that is accountable to the Minister and not the National Election Supervisory Committee. In so doing the Minister and Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports will be undermining the independence of the already skewed National Election Supervisory Committee.

 

iv) Affirmative Action

The guidelines does not expressively explain the manner in which the various priority target groups that includes but not limited to; youth with disability, street youth, youth infected with HIV/AIDS, female youth, the unemployed youth and youth out of school will be involved in the process of establishing and operationalizing the National Youth Council. The guidelines have no consideration to youth from historically marginalized communities without clear way for representation. The National Youth Council need to conform to principles and values underlying the National Youth Policy that is; Respect of cultural belief systems and ethical values, Equity and accessibility, Gender inclusiveness, Good governance and Mainstreaming youth issues.

 

C. THE YOUTH CONGRESS SUBMISSION

The National Youth Council must be credible, legitimate, independent and effective. It’s in this backdrop that we seek the following;

1)       Review of the National Youth Council Act 2009.-The Nation Youth Council Act 2009 and the election guideline should be reviewed and youth concerns in- cooperated before the election and subsequent establishment of the National Youth Council. The concerns in the National Youth Council Act includes but not limited to;

• Removal or reduction of the number of Government officials like the Permanent Secretaries and the Attorney General and take away their voting right.
• The National Youth Council Act 2009 should state categorically the relationship between the National Youth Council and the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.
• Reduce powers of the Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports in the National Youth Council
• The National Youth Council Act should state clearly the relationship between the National Youth Council and the Advisory Board.

2)       Youth leadership and participation-The process of establishing the National Youth Council must ensure youth leadership and participation and full involvement of key stakeholders of the later.

3)       Civic education schedule-There should be civic education on the National Youth Council election prior to the election and other stakeholders incorporated.

4)       Election by Interim Independent Election Commission –The national election for the National Youth Council should be conducted by the Interim Independent Election Commission (IIEC) for credibility and transparency.

5)       Principles and values underlying the National Youth Policy- The National Youth Council must conform to principles and values that is; Respect of cultural belief systems and ethical values, Equity and accessibility, Gender inclusiveness, Good governance and Mainstreaming youth issues.

Conclusion
As such, The Youth Congress looks forward to offering its support, in whatever form possible, to ensure participation of the young people in the establishment of Independent, inclusive, efficient and effective National Youth Council by the youth, with the youth and for the youth and the subsequent follow up to champion for the implementation of the Kenya National Youth Policy. The Youth Congress is available and open for discussion on the subject matter.

---

[1] The National Youth Council Act, 2009 was assented to by His Excellency the President of the Republic of Kenya on the 31^st December, 2009 and subsequently published in the official Kenya Gazette on the 6^th January, 2010 which is also its effective commencement date.

[2] Permanent Secretaries in the Ministries of; Youth Affairs and Sports, Finance, Education and Internal Security and Provincial Administration

 

Correction on the National Youth Council Elections

Dear Friends,

We all know that that there are anomalies in the process that is to set up the National Youth Council. HOWEVER, Kindly note that there were NO PLANNED or EVEN PERCEIVED ELECTIONS in the month of August.

We have reliable information that the Ministry is currently in the process of disseminating information about the Council. Information received from the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports has plans for the Elections of the National Youth Council scheduled to take place from sub-locational level up to the National level given the guidelines as provided for in the Act. The Schedule will be made public in accordance to the guidelines and will be done by the Minister of Youth in the next couple of day.

We will publish that schedule here on the platform and do all we can to ensure all the youth networks across Kenya have access to the same information to massively mobilize the young people from all walks of life to come out in large numbers and shape the way the elections will be conducted and make sure we get the right people on the youth council positions.

We will also help in the sensitization process so that as many youth as possible are able to understand the provisions of the National Youth Council Act of Parliament and the procedures that come with the conduction of the elections of the council.

We have the responsibility of collecting and collating the right information and ensuring that every person under the age of 35 gets the  accurate information to the people.

Because it is the lack of information that has made many people in Kenya to lack the will to participate in public processes, the Youth Act being our only document that is to protect the development of the youth in Kenya must be made public and we will play that role of disseminating its information as a civic duty.

We will make the schedule of the Elections of the NYC available to all so that we can take advantage of the process.

Best regards,

Emmanuel Dennis

YES Kenya Leader
Initiator of the Green Teams Initiative
P.O. Box 8799, 00200
Nairobi Kenya
Cell: +46706048398
http://emmanuel-ed.blogspot.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/Emmanueldennis
http://www.facebook.com/?sk=messages&tid=397764087384#!/group.php?gid=124947050868208&v=info&ref=ts

Youth Agenda Statement on Kenya’s Ministry Of Youth Affairs ’s plan to hold sham elections for the National Youth Council Officials

In December 2009, President Mwai Kibaki assented to the enactment of the National Youth Council Act which was subsequently gazetted in January 2010.

This Act will bring in force a powerful body known as the Kenya National Youth Council whose mandate will be to co-ordinate all youth organisations, design and continuously review the National Youth Policy and develop an “integrated National Youth Development Plan” in collaboration with the Ministry responsible for Youth Affairs. The Council will also act as an advisory, research and policy institution on youth affairs in the country. In essence the council shall be the Advocate, Connector and Enabler for young people in Kenya.

As it stands today, the National Youth Council has not been established. The Youth Agenda and other stakeholders has been at the forefront in advocating for a responsive Youth Council, we have also been vigilant in trying to ensure involvement, participation and representation of the youth constituency in the formation of the National Youth Council.

In pursuance of this, we have sent numerous communiqué to the Ministry of Youth Affairs seeking to promote youth participation in this process including a memorandum prescribing the manner in which the Youth Consortium wanted the election of the NYC officials conducted.    To date, the Ministry has silent on the matter and at times evasive while operating exclusive of the youth constituents the ministry is supposed to serve.

It has now come to our attention that the Ministry of Youth Affairs is planning to hold elections of the Youth Council on Wednesday 11th August from 10am. It is on this premise that we would like to raise the following:-

Our Concerns

1)      That, a majority of the Youth are not aware of the upcoming elections

2)      That, The elections might be used to rubber stamp a preselected committee

3)      If the elections are not held in a transparent and participatory manner, the Council will not have the legitimacy it needs in order to have impact and achieve its goals

Our Submission

In the spirit of transparency, openness and inclusivity we recommend the following to the ministry;

1.      That, the process be opened up at all levels for all the youth of this country

2.      That, based on the memorandum (dated 2nd June 2010) submitted to the Ministry of Youth Affairs by the youth consortium, the ministry must engage other stakeholders in the election process.

3.      That, if the National youth Council is to be responsive to and owned by the young men and women of the new Kenya, then the Ministry must involve the youth of this country in the process of establishing this council.

Seeing as this has not been done, we read malice into the ministry’s actions which are in bad taste. The ministry must and should remain accountable to its constituents and as such it should be prepared to face the backlash of stage-managed elections. These elections must be postponed to allow for awareness and participation of all the youth in this country.

Conclusion

It is our hope that the National Youth Council will have an active youth force serving in it; will be representative of all Kenyan youth including women, persons with disability as well as minorities groups; and that the appointing process will be transparent, fair and democratic.

Yours Sincerely,

Susan Kariuki
Act. Executive Director
The Youth Agenda YAA

Youth Agenda Memorandum on the Operationalization Of The National Youth Council

When on December 31^st 2009, Kenya’s President Mwai Kibaki assented to the National Youth Council Bill, it was held as a harbinger of more youth participation in national development. However, six months down the line, it seems that the Act has not been adopted.

The Youth Agenda, an independent national youth organization founded in 1996 held extensive consultations and discussions amongst representatives of youth organizations from all provinces in Kenya to discuss the formation of  the National Youth Council and propose a suitable prescribed method for the composition of the National Youth Congress and the appointment of the members of the National Youth Council and Board.

Read the outcome of the discussions NYC Memorandum

Comments and inputs are highly welcome and should be sent and discussed through Youth Agenda’s Programme Officer- Judy Nguru through judy.nguru@youthagenda.org or 2022026

Just how many pirated DVD shops can a city have?

Yesterday we got an interesting comment on an old post Kenya’s Youth Council Bill is merely a means to keep the old guard on top:

Yipe,

I have a suspicion you might be interested in an ongoing blogging discussion between Al Kags (alkags.com) and Sonia (http://sonia.elimisha.us). The two bloggers are having a debate on their individual blogs (each blogging their response on their own blogs).

The discussion: is national policy in Kenya actually appropriately set to support young people effectively and are the funds available in Kenya being appropriately used to make Kenyan youth successful?

It would be great to see your views (maybe on your blog) on the subject

On reading both posts (sides), here is our two cents worth:

There is absolutely no point in promoting enterprise among the youth unless they are competitive.

Last year regarding the reason why many youth-owned enterprises collapse within 12 months, we posted the following:

“Taking a walk through African cities, one notices that the enterprises being operated by the youth are generally service oriented, and fall within a narrow category of retail business types. There is hardly any manufacturing and even more disturbing is the lack of innovativeness on the part of youth entrepreneurs. Just how many pirated DVD shops can a city have? The answer to that question depends on how many young entrepreneurs there are. This may sound cynical, but if one just strolls through Africa’s business districts patterns of mobile phone accessory shops, small clothing stalls and the emerging number of cramped cyber café’s tell the story of an over-saturation of enterprise but no individual firm growth. It’s no wonder most of these outfits hardly last a year, when the young entrepreneurs venture into the next big thing in small business.”

You can get the full post here http://yipeorg.blogspot.com/2009/06/ethical-business-revolution-is-emerging.html

Therefore as well meaning and consultative as the National Youth Policy is, to us at Yipe there is no point in having a policy or National Youth Council or even a Youth Enterprise Fund, for that matter if all we do is regurgitate the same old business ideas.

So even though as Sonia says “the National Youth Policy did to help organize young people and more importantly those who support youth led development” at the end of the day the only realistic youth development policy is (to put it crudely) the one that puts enough money in their pockets. And the only way to do that in an economy where youth unemployment constitutes 78% of total unemployment is to promote growth and competitive oriented sustainable enterprises.

A fish rots from the head … more on the scandal at Kenya’s Youth Enterprise Fund

In June 2009, Yipe.org published a damning report titled “A Fish Rots From Its Head – Crony Capitalism Exposed At The Kenya Youth Enterprise Development Fund” which exposed financial mismanagement and corporate governance conflicts of interest at Kenya’s Youth Fund.

This followed an article published in East African Standard whose basis was a management letter from the Kenya National Audit Office (KNAO) dated 28th November 2008 to the Youth Enterprise Development Fund. However the response to this article was the (former) Chairperson of the Fund’s  Board accusing the Standard of being used in political machinations.

The Board was also adamant that Umuro Wario (the terminated and later re-instated CEO’s) sacking was legitimate, despite his protestations at being victimised over his opposition to a contentious deal between the Fund and Enablis Entrepreneurial Network, for which the Fund would loan Enablis Kshs. 300 million.

The Kenya Anti Corruption Commission’s most recent quarterly report for the period covering October to December 2009 investigated the procurement and found that established regulations were not followed in this instance. The Commission thus recomended that the loan agreement should be cancelled and in response, the Attorney General directed that further investigations should be carried out.

Read the Commissions report into the procurement here on page 9

We’d love to know what you think

From

Message

Upload a new profile picture:

Simple online bookkeeping software: Outright

Sign In | Register

• Home
• Community

//

Community > Bookkeepers > Bookkeeping > Year End Bookkeeping Checklist

Year End Bookkeeping Checklist

Posted by: Wray Rives, January 13, 2010

Comments: 0

Under: Bookkeeping

Facebook

Twitter

Digg

Stumble Upon

Delicious

As the end of the year fast approaches, self-employed- and small- business owners are gearing up for tax season. Heading into it we all feel a little overwhelmed, confused, and nervous about dealing with the IRS (okay, a LOT). Below is a checklist that business owners, from freelancers to contractors, home-based businesses to sole-proprietors, should be sure they complete before December 31 to prepare for tax returns and plan their business for the coming year.

End of Year Bookkeeping Checklist:

1. Reconcile Your Bank Account. Even if you bank online and don’t balance a checkbook every month, year end is a good time to see if your account balances. Make sure the numbers make sense and that an expense or sale isn’t missing but also check the bank fees and records as we’ve experienced more than a few mistakes on the part of the bank; you don’t want an expense erroneously appearing twice.
2. Catch Up On Invoices. Do you have any work or shipments for which you have not yet sent invoices? We like to think that you haven’t been paid until you’ve been paid.
3. Record Transactions. Have you imported all the transactions from your credit cards, bank accounts, and receipts? Add your accounts from PayPal, eBay, or Freshbooks to record every expense and dollar received for your business, no matter how insignificant or questionable. We’ll work out exactly what you can deduct later; if you don’t record it, in the eyes of your bookkeeping, it doesn’t exist.
4. Double Check. Are you missing any income or expense transactions? Honestly, double check. Did you do any contract work or test other sales channels on the side? Did you try earning some advertising revenue on your blog or website? Outright.com makes it easy to record everything but only if you tell us what to record.
5. Categorize Expenses. This is where things get a bit tricky but time spent is well worth the effort. Make sure all of your income and expenses have been properly categorized. Categorizing your income (for the most part all “Sales”) is not nearly as critical as those deductible expenses. The Schedule C categories can be confusing but they make the difference; Mileage under “Car and Truck Expenses” is deductible while “Other Expenses” are not. We’ll do most of the categorization automatically for you; when in doubt, ask a professional or hire a bookkeeper.
6. Don’t Forget Mileage. Have you recorded all the time spent in the car? Did you realize that you can deduct $.55 per mile for those trips to clients or meetings? Your daily commute doesn’t qualify but regardless, for many, the deduction adds up to thousands.
7. Collect W-9s. Do you have W-9 information for all the contractors you paid this year? You’d be surprised at how many miss IRS form W-9. To properly file a 1099 for any contract or freelance work you involved, you need accurate taxpayer identification. The way to get that is to request a W-9 from the contractor. Get it now, 1099’s are due January 31.
8. Pay Your Estimated Taxes. To avoid penalties when taxes are due on April 15th, be sure you’ve paid enough in estimated taxes for the year. Final federal tax payments are due by January 15th. The fourth installment of your 2009 estimated taxes should bring you up to at least 90% of what your final total taxes are for the year. If that’s still too confusing, pay the same amount as you actually owed from last year. How? Unfortunately, Work with the IRS.
9. Triple Check Profit & Loss. Take a look at your profit and loss statement for the entire year. Do the numbers seem reasonable compared to how your income and expense totaled in prior years? Yes, we’re effectively triple checking your income and those expenses. Search your pockets for receipts, don’t neglect that credit card that was cancelled because creditors are so stingy, and keep in mind that payment from your brother for some consulting.
10. Prepare A Budget for Next Year. One quick way is to take your profit and loss statement from the year that is ending and download it to a spreadsheet, then you can easily add formulas to say you want to increase revenue next year by 10% or reduce costs by 5%.

What else is on your end of year bookkeeping checklist?

For example, is it critical to check accounts receivable and payable?

Facebook

Twitter

Digg

Stumble Upon

Delicious

<< Previous Article

---

• Related Questions

  I bought some tchotchkes from a small producer of handmade items. Do I have to send her a 1099?

  1

  Answers

  

  I got a 1099 back from the IRS saying “invalid vendor tax ID”- what do I do?

  1

  Answers

  

  Do I have to send 1099s to partnerships and LLCs?

  2

  Answers

  

  Why can’t I just send a black and white copy of the 1099 to the IRS?

  1

  Answers

  

  What are the penalties for missing or making a mistake on 1099s?

  Be the 1st
  to Answer

  

  

  ---

• Similar Articles

  • Bookkeeping and marketing, a match made in heaven
  • Bookkeepers’ Education in 1947: Film – Bookkeeping & You
  • Using bookkeeping software to improve business results
  • Bookkeepers & Entrepreneurs, Join Forces!

  ---

• Most Popular Topics

<!––>

Outright: Simple Bookkeeping Online

Outright was created after watching a number of small businesses, like ourselves, struggle to capture all of their business deductions, often piecing together a number of different solutions. We consistently found that business owners spent too much time and effort on the least enjoyable part of running one’s own business. So we built Outright. The goal is to keep it as simple as possible, helping entrepreneurs track all of their income and expenses to get their taxes done accurately.

Product

• Sign up
• Login
• Tour
• FAQs
• Password recovery

Company

• About us
• Contact us
• Press
• Jobs
• Partners

Resources

• Tax calendar
• Terms of service
• Privacy policy
• Testimonials

Outright is secure. Learn more »

© 2009 Outright. All Rights Reserved.

Umuro Wario’s reinstatement at Kenya’s Youth Fund is a victory for public officers committed to fighting corruption

The government’s decision to reinstate Mr. Umuro Wario to continue serving as the Chief Executive Officer of the Youth Enterprise Development Fund should be highly lauded. It’s a point of victory for public officers who risk their jobs by committing themselves to fight corruption.

Kenya’s biggest problem with the war against corruption has always been having the corrupt have their day whenever they fight back. This has happened to so many competent people before. A number of committed and hardworking officers have often lost their jobs whenever they showed determination to fight graft. A few years back it was confirmed that in Kenya, corruption fights back. It happened to Goldenberg whistle blower David Munyakei who lost his job and died in agony after he revealed how Kenyans had lost billions of shillings through the Goldenberg scandal. The same nature of machinations worked so hard to remove true anti corruption crusaders from transparency international. It was such kind of behind the scene political games by some board members that two very competent CEO’s Mwalimu Mati and Gladwell Otieno were consecutively removed from TI Kenya. Transparency International is just one example among many where officers committed to sincerity end up losing their jobs because of the greed and immorality of some of the board members of those institutions.

The minister in charge must be lauded for taking a bold action and making the truth carry its day by re appointing Mr. Wario. The  minister has shown that if we all work for the truth, the just will always get justice too.

The initial sacking of Mr. Wario was like condemning those who fight corruption within the institutions where they work. This is because the ground of dismissal was based on the fact that he didn’t cooperate in the approval of some questionable deals pushed by the board. He must be lauded for standing strong in the interest of Kenyan youth when he refused to approve a ‘loan’ of ksh.300million to a Canadian NGO. Its noticeable that some politically connected board members wanted to use their political influence to blackmail the CEO into approving projects that mattered to their own selfish interests and not in the interest of the Kenyan youth.

It’s important that the minister was able to rescind her own earlier move of sacking the YEDF CEO after finding out the truth.

As the minister appoints new board members it’s important to ensure that new faces are put on the board to make the YEDF operate without any external coercion from various political interests as it has been before. The minister should now move to ensure that the board is fully reconstituted to include people who will work in the interest of the Kenyan youth and not those who will end up arm-twisting the CEO to give’ loans’ to foreign NGOs. A new board I believe will come up with a new way of implementing the youth projects and also oversee the funding of the youth groups by merit and not through political manipulations.

Wario is one of the competent young people who are emerging   in providing leadership in different sectors of our economy and it’s wrong for individuals to use tribalism or any other form of bigotry to sabotage such talents. He is also is famed for having rolled out the audit of the Kenya’s free primary education when he worked for the ministry of education.

I really wish that other ministers and government officials emulate the youth and sports minister Prof. Hellen Sambili and stand and support the truth always whenever circumstances of this nature arise. Through this, we shall achieve a lot in our war against nepotism and all other forms of corruption. It must be fought from all corners and sacking public officers who help fight it is not one of the methods of ridding our society of graft.

FWAMBA NC FWAMBA

Jipe moyo wewe Kijana! (don’t give up!) – Kenya’s government has no intention of empowering you!

Today the youth in Nairobi converged on Charter Hall to celebrate International Youth Day. The purpose of this auspicious day (which will be officially celebrated tomorrow in the rest of the world) is to draw attention to social, economic, legal and political issues facing the youth.

The Nairobi Forum had as its theme “Harnessing Responsive Youth Development Initiatives for a Sustainable Kenyan Economy”, an issue which is at the heart of Agenda 4 of Kenya’s National Accord Agreement that established the current coalition government.

Regarding the youth, Agenda 4 has far reaching measures which are meant to include all Kenyans and indeed the youth who form over 75% of Kenya’s population into democratic processes and development.

Constitutional reforms are anticipated to include clauses that ensure equal opportunities and social inclusion for all Kenyans. Institutional reforms in the judiciary and police have been incorporated to ensure strong commitment to human rights, in a country where Kenyan youth are particularly vulnerable to such abuses, with the majority of inmates in the prison system being youth and a  police force that has also been accused of targeting the youth for extra judicial killings.

Further Agenda 4 reforms are also supposed to be implemented within the civil service, the same sector which in March this year raised the retirement age of civil servants up five years to 60! Land reforms are also a crucial Agenda 4 issue as land ownership amongst the nation’s youth is remaining a novelty.

However, these reforms cannot compare with the real poverty faced by Kenya’s youth. The youth require jobs and opportunities to fully exploit their talents. And Agenda 4 emphasises policies that ensure equity and balance  in terms of job creation and improved income distribution.

Thus, the main agenda in this afternoon’s Charter Hall forum centered on the Youth Enterprise Development Fund as well as the more recent Kazi kwa Vijana (KKV) programme.

After opening performances from Sauti Sol who can only be described as Kenya’s Boyz II Men, Hope Raisers a band from Korogocho inspired the title of this post “Jipe moyo wewe Kijana!” with their session that encouraged the audience not to give up in the face of poverty. It was ironic that above the stage were both the emblem of the Nairobi City Council which in the past has been guilty of not providing adequate social services as well as the seemingly benign face of President Kibaki, the very same principal who is meant to deliver Agenda 4 to Kenyans.

The forum was moderated by Louis Otieno of Citizen TV and began with a talk from Patrick Kasyula, the head of research at the Youth Enterprise Development Fund. In his speech, he extolled the virtues of the fund, more or less placing the blame for not reaching as many young entrepreneurs as could have been on parliament. He went on to say that the fund had to put internal structures and requirements such as funding youth groups as opposed to individuals so that the Kenya National Audit Office (KNAO) could not say they were spending money flagrantly.

Kasyula further mentioned that the fund was committed to responding to issues. As such the first question was raised by Fiona Mati of the Youth Interactive Portal for Enterprise (Yipe.org) regarding the over Kshs. 1 billion in financial discrepancies outlined in the Partnership for Change report “A fish rots from the head down: crony capitalism at Kenya’s Youth Enterprise Development Fund” whose basis was a financial management letter addressed to the then CEO of the Youth Fund, Umuro Wario from the very same Kenya National Audit Office (KNAO) Mr. Kasyula had earlier mentioned.

In response, Mr. Kasyula termed the “report” as being false and malicious. He went onto assert that those errors emanated from the fund’s parent ministry of Youth & Sports to whom the startup monies for the youth fund was given in grants. As a result of that “report” Kasyula continued, the CEO was terminated.  Mr. Kasyula never made any response to other questions from Ms. Mati regarding single sourcing by the Fund of suppliers and contractors, and neither did he answer her question on the Youth Fund’s “partnership” with Enablis East Africa.  However, he did provide a standard response from the fund that it is the only State Corporation that presents quarterly reports to Parliament and is one of the most transparent government agencies. Yet if this is the case, why the hesitancy in answering a few straightforward questions if the Fund is as transparent as its officers profess it to be?

Mr. Kasyula was further prodded by another audience member, Emmanuel Dennis the convenor of the National Youth Convention regarding his assertion that the “report” by the Kenya National Audit Office was both “false and malicious”. Mr. Dennis asked how Kasyula a civil servant could say the Auditor General’s office could make such “false and malicious” assertions– the very same office that draws its mandate from The Constitution of Kenya!

Dennis further reminded the audience of further financial issues raised in the KNAO financial management letter including a Kshs. 50 million grant to the youth fund by the Kenya Pipeline Organisation, for which no agreement was supplied at the time of the KNAO’s audit of the fund; Kshs. 500 million put into a fixed deposit account without Treasury approval and monies paid out for events to an organization for whom no legal registration documents were made available to the KNAO.

At this point, Kasyula directed any interested questioners to find out more from the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports, whom the forum’s moderator Louis Otieno reminded everyone present was new in his job. But Kasyula maintained that a visit to the parent ministry would yield answers, albeit the same answers the Partnership for Change has been seeking since June 27^th 2009!

At the beginning of the Forum, Louis Otieno had asked the audience how many had received money from the youth kitty and only a smattering raised their hands. Indeed there were more audience members who raised their hands when asked who had applied and been rejected.

Two of these from one youth group in Embakasi narrated their story. They said that even though the concept of a youth fund was good in the boardroom, its implementation was far from realistic on the ground. They had tried to apply twice and never received even an email rejecting their application. One of them, Njambi said that rejection communication would not quench her thirst for entrepreneurship, but could only improve the development of her group’s business proposal. Njambi added that even a short note saying that the handwriting on her group’s proposal was bad would have been preferable to no response at all.

The second entrepreneur Lydia said that on one of their applications they approached the Fund and were told there was no money and that they should return after the national budget was read as all the money had been returned until then to the Treasury! She further cited the major hurdles imposed by the fund’s application process saying that her group had a hard time even finding a youth officer. That is not surprising because the youth officer they eventually found in Embakasi was in her words a “Mzee” (an old man) who told the group that what they were requesting was not within his mandate and even called the administration police to send them back to where they came from. Kasyula responded to this by admitting that the Fund does not itself employ youth officers who commonly are “senior” civil servants seconded to such duties by the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports.

The question of what impact the fund has made was raised by other audience members who said the youth in the “hood(s)” of Nairobi do not know about banks and “big money” and asked the fund to make its presence known on the ground. A member of a youth performing group added that road-shows would be a good starting point so the youth can leave the ghetto and reach the leafy suburbs of Lavington.

The second issue under discussion at the forum was jobs, specifically those under the controversial Kazi kwa Vijana (KKV) programme. A representative from the KKV National Management Committee Mr. Adak said that the initiative was aimed at assisting those youth most “at risk“. In his introduction he outlined the structure of the programme and stressed that the initiative had been successful, employing 100,000 youth so far.

Expenditure is Expe! (expensive)

An audience member from Mathare later told Mr. Adak that the amount of 250 shillings per day  was too little to feed him and his family. He also asked whether the initiative was just a 2012 campaign gimmick. In response, Adak told the young man that we should “praise God” for 250 shillings! – further revealing the insensitivity of government policy makers and political elite to the plight of the nation’s youth.

That response confirmed that Kenya’s government policy is solely populist and not geared to any sustainable development as far as youth policy and mainstreaming is concerned. That the government through KKV has employed 100,000 youth and intends by the end of September 2009 (next month) to make this figure 300,000 (how they get this figure and how they intend to achieve 300% growth is anyone’s guess) shows that Agenda 4 is on the back-burner as far as Kenya’s youth are concerned. World development has shown that as the noted economist and Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen says, development is not just about numbers but how the quality of life of a nation’s population is being improved. Obviously Kenya’s development economists and policy makers remain unaware of this.

To further show that the KKV programme is solely intended to give Kshs. 2,500 to as many youth as it can, the project is set up so that an “at risk” youth gets temporary employment for a maximum of 10 days. The means test to assess those “at risk” was questioned as well as the use of the provincial administration in implementation. Audience members testified that local chiefs were using the KKV as a means to solidify their influence in communities with no scrutiny. Negative ethnicity was also cited when a participant called Bill from Kiamaiko in Huruma told the forum that only youth from one community were being employed in his area. Another, George from Mathare said that the KKV supervisors looked 75 years old! He also told the forum that there were cases of supervisors demanding a cut of the earnings.

Payment was also an issue. Under the programme, the youth are paid two weeks AFTER the job and several cases were raised in the forum regarding delayed payment even after that time period. However, Adak of the KKV said that some youth had been involved in monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of the exercise to avert such incidents and even narrated an instance of M&E youth entering government offices questioning why they were unmanned. Though this sounds like empowering youth, the tale evoked memories of the dreaded Kanu youth wingers of the Moi regime who in their red-shirts terrorized everyone including civil servants.

As for the KKVs national steering committee and its offshoots, queries were raised by youth group members in the audience as to who actually appoints these committee members? A youth leader echoed the campaign gimmick question asking why the programme was under the Prime Minister’s office and not the Ministry of Youth Affairs? He reiterated that the initiative was being used as a cash cow for the provincial administration where bribes to be employed on the programme went as high as Kshs. 2,000 – leave alone that the total take home amount should be Kshs. 2,500!  The potential for corruption in this Kshs. 15 billion project was cited as being too high particularly where no checks and balances have been instituted. Adak, the KKV representative could only respond that the committees were manned by civil servants from roads, forestry, solid waste collection and other labour intensive government departments.

Siku njema ina kuja (A better day is coming)

But the ray of hope came from the recommendations of an earlier morning session where the forum was informed that a report will be presented to the government regarding the youth fund with the following demands:

• An acknowledgment that the youth enterprise development fund is not structured in such a way as to eradicate poverty. The beneficiary criteria has not been well thought out and enables those who can access loans elsewhere to benefit to the exclusion of those that really need it.
• The fund should not be so stringent in its loan disbursement: small quick turnaround loans should be included.
• Devolvement of disbursement from commercial banks should be immediate and grassroot structures that are more accessible to Kenya’s youth should be promoted.

As for the Kazi Kwa Vijana, this policy was only slated to last until September 2009. However, the youth are growing more restless by the day. The only solution to avert a youth revolution is a full and committed implementation of Agenda 4.

Kenya’s Youth Council Bill is merely a means to keep the old guard on top

Kenya’s National Youth Council Bill 2009 came up for reading this week in parliament, though lack of quorum once again caused some delay. Though this should be cause for celebration for the country’s youth movement, several clauses illustrate the government’s inability to respect the needs and demands of Kenya’s youth.

Indeed the Bill is ambiguous even when it comes to the definition of who actually constitute the youth. In the Bill’s preliminary, the youth are termed as persons between fifteen and thirty years. However,the United Nations categorises youth as those between the ages of 15 to 24 years old. And for one to benefit from a loan from the Youth Enterprise Development Fund, one has to be between the ages of 18 to 35 years.

Then there is the issue of actual youth participation in the proposed Council. Section 5 of the Bill states that the Chairperson shall be appointed solely by the Minister of Youth Affairs & Sports. However, she need not even consult with youth groups when making her decision, so she could appoint a geriatric if she chose.

On further perusal of the clauses regarding the composition of the Council, it turns out that it is not only the Chair that could turn out to be old. Apart from the traditional practice of having permanent secretaries from the parent ministry and the Treasury in addition to the Attorney General (or an appointed proxy), the Minister also holds sole powers to appoint six other members to the Council. The clause once again does not insist on any consultation with youth groups, and also has no mention whatsoever of the age of these members.

Further, the Chief Executive of the Council can be as old as Methuselah as far as the Bill is concerned. This is the same officer who should serve as the face of the Council and be the voice of the youth to the Council members, yet the Bill omits to mention that they even need to form any liaisons with the country’s youth groups or have any prior experience in youth policy making.

The staff of the Council too do not have to be youth. And remember that it was only a few months ago when the retirement age of civil servants in Kenya was hiked up by five years to 65!  Seeing that the government claims to be striving to implement austerity measures, most likely the staff will be deployed from other government ministries; so who is to say that the Council offices will not be manned by 59 year olds? This in the same country where nearly 10% of the total population are unemployed youth, stinks of the same insensitivity government policies have had towards the Kenyan people.

The bid to control the youth through this reactionary document, also rises higher up in government echelons, not merely resting on the shoulders of the Minister of Youth Affairs. The President who himself is inching closer to 80 years holds the sole power to appoint the Chairperson of the proposed Advisory Board to the Council. This is the same person who oversaw the re-appointment of the oldest civil servant in Kenyan history back to the Kenya Airport Authority! Even scanning appointments to commissions and government agencies, it would be more in keeping to norm for the President to appoint someone over retirement age, this time not even having to consult with younger MPs let alone youth organisations themselves.

But there is a glimmer of light where the advisory board is concerned where the Minister of Youth (again!) has the power to appoint eight representatives of youth organisations. However, yet again the youth are locked out in getting extra seats on this board by the following factors:

• Though one member must be nominated by the Kenya Private Sector Alliance, to be a member one has be an association or a corporate entity and fork out at least Kshs. 5,000 (US$ 65). Youth entrepreneurs generally tend to be cash strapped, and thus more likely to be unable to even afford this sum, precluding them from such a nomination.
• Including only the Commission of Higher Education to represent the education sector ignores the millions of youth who never had or will have the opportunity to benefit from tertiary education.
• The National Economic and Social Council has a small minority of youth members, who once again only represent the creme de la creme of industry and financial services in the country. What about the informal sector entrepreneurs who form the majority of business activity in Kenya and employ 75% of Kenyans of working age?
• Finally where are the nomination categories that will nominate members to press for the rights of rural and urban poor youth?

Even the experts that are supposed to advise the advisory board do not have to be youthful. To us, the best expert is the one that is living the life – the youth themselves!

Another toothless dog?

It seems that indeed this proposed Council is once again a PR gimmick of the government, a mere toothless poodle to appease and control the youth.  Under the Bill, the activities and mandates of the Council are only a duplication of what national youth movements have already being doing for eons. The proposed Council pales in comparison to the youth council in Rwanda, which even has enough power to elect members to the country’s Chamber of Deputies, the second chamber of parliament.

As Hon. Denis H. Obua MP of Uganda writing earlier in this same blog comparing the mainstreaming of youth policy in his country to that of Rwanda commented:

“My observation was that issues of the youth are given top priority by the Rwandan government.

Their youth councils are one of the best supported in Africa and the Ministry of Youth Affairs is considered one of the core ministries … But does the Rwandan government have more resources than Uganda’s? The answer is no, but issues of the youth attract top attention in Kigali”.- Govt crippling youth efforts to live better, November 21 2008

Though the Bill tries to ensure fresh talent by limiting the number of years one can sit on the Council or the Advisory Board to three years, a better limit would be to ensure that the main decision making powers rest with the youth membership, while the permanent secretaries and Attorney General’s representative act as advisers to ensure they act within mandate and the law. The maximum limit for the youth Council members can be either 30 or 35 years, after the Ministry of Youth finally settles on one age. After that the Council members should retire.

Also the powers of the Minister of Youth to hire and fire should be curtailed, by insisting that there should be some consultative process with the youth of Kenya, before embarking on such actions.

The Coming of Anarchy: Lessons from West Africa

An article published in the mid 1990’s “The Coming of Anarchy” by journalist Robert Kaplan offers several lessons which if not considered, could result in failed states ala Liberia, courtesy of the youth who rise up and say ENOUGH!

The post-election violence of 2007 and early 2008 aptly demonstrated that the barrier between crime and politically instigated tyranny is becoming increasingly blurred, particularly in urban centres. Kaplan’s description in his article of cities in West Africa, echoes the state of Kenya’s urban slums where “streets are unlit; the police often lack gasoline for their vehicles; armed burglars, carjackers, and muggers proliferate”.

Polygamy & the Family Breakdown

Contributing to youth disaffection is the practice of polygamy which adds to the alienation of young people even within their “extended families”. Marriage breakdown, increasing incidences of sexual crimes and the resorting to commercial sex work by our youth, has promoted a population explosion as well as HIV/AIDS for which contraction rates remain highest amongst this population segment.

Mini-slum nation-states

Similar to pre-coup Abidjan, Ivory Coast with names such as “Chicago” and “Washington” for slum-districts, Nairobi’s slums boast names of conflict regions: “Kosovo and (mini) Mogadishu” which in turn are “governed” by street militias (“jeshi’s”) bearing similarly militaristic names such as “Baghdad Boys”, “Kosovo Boys” and the notorious “Taliban”. These sprawling slums continue to grow as more young people migrate to cities. Deforestation in rural areas has also brought with it adverse effects of climate change where rains are no longer assured forcing the young unemployed to migrate. The newcomers exert increased pressure in the urban low-lands which in turn has led to inter-ethnic conflicts within the slums.

Just like Kaplan’s view of 1990s Conakry which he describes as “a nightmarish Dickensian spectacle to which Dickens himself would never have given credence”, our cities and towns have now become venues of beggars with children with protruding bellies who seem “as numerous as ants”. Kaplan concludes that in states where man is recklessly depleting natural resources and with increased populations, nature will eventually take its revenge.

A case of nature taking back its own

And it has. Incidents such as the recent flooding in Nyanza attest to this. Populations have now had to move further inland, which could trigger a conflict with the upper regions settled communities.

Kaplan posits that the environment should be understood and acknowledged as a matter of national security. However, housing development in urban centres has been haphazard, facilitated by corrupt municipal authority officials turning a blind eye when issuing building permits. The most recent incidence of this was the recent collapse of a building in Mvita, Mombasa which has so far claimed the lives of at least 3 people. Building experts have for long been lobbying against the construction of multi-storey buildings asserting that coastal soil is not as resilient as interior soils for building foundations. So far the developer of the collapsed building remains at large.

Nevertheless, the demand of a growing urban population continues to ensure that developers have a ready market. The resulting high density estates have in turn led to water reserves being severely compromised. While Kenyans watched with consternation about the cholera epidemic in Zimbabwe, little did they believe that the disease would somehow find its way into our borders.

The Coming of Anarchy

Just like the recent youth-led takeover in Madagascar, Africa has for long had uprisings among the youth population. African history has many examples where “Soweto-like stone-throwing adolescents” finally had it with aging leaders and took matters into their own hands against such repressive regimes.

However there does remain a window of opportunity to pre-empt this. If only the Ministry of Youth Affairs would pay due cognizance to the urban youth population living in squalid conditions, by pushing for the mainstreaming of youth interests in government policies that focus on strengthening families, internal security, health, environment and land reforms.

On the other hand, if the status quo remains, not even Nairobi’s skyscrapers will be able to conceal the anger of the youth when they finally decide to make a stand.