Sixty-two per cent of youths are vulnerable to electoral bribery, while 40 per cent of them say they would only vote for a candidate who bribed them, a new research indicated.
The research, conducted by The East African Institute of the Aga Khan University involving 1,854 respondents, also revealed that 35 per cent of Kenyan youths were ready to involve themselves in bribe taking and giving.
Speaking during the launch, the Director of East African Institute Alex Awiti said that most youths were frustrated by lack of opportunities thus sought to engage in unethical ways to make a living.
“Youths lack opportunities this is why most of them would and even take bribes to make ends met,” Awiti said.
The report which was launched during the National Youth Leaders Convention in Nairobi, sought to educate youths on their roles in leadership and their role in ensuring good governance.
Awiti pointed out that corruption was the biggest menace that was eroding social values among youths and good governance
He pointed out that 50 per cent of youths were ready to engage in any activities, including fraud and corruption, to make money as long as it does not land them in jail.
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“Corruption is eating into our generation and it is shocking that 62 per cent of the majority of our population is ready to take bribery in order for them to vote for those who represent them,” Awiti said.
The youths interviewed also expressed disappointment in the level of corruption in the country with 40 per cent of them expressing fear that this would affect the countries general growth and 30 per cent pointing out that Kenyans values and ethics were most likely to deteriorate.
However, the report showed that most youths had shunned ethnicity with only 5 per cent of the interviewed youths identifying themselves with ethnicity first but was higher among youths aged between 30 and 35.
The director argued that Kenya had a strong potential in realizing vision 2030 if youths get involved in economic, social and political administration.
"Eighty per cent of Kenya's population is below 35 years in fact the average age in Kenya is 19 we therefore will be a labor generating country in the next few years with the decreased fertility and making us more venerable to realizing vision 2030,” he said.