The Building Bridges Initiative report has hit the headlines for a couple of months since President Uhuru Kenyatta and ODM leader Raila Odinga shook hands last year on March 9.
It seems like a great report that has been thought over by great minds. But is it all about how the country is governed, who gets what seat and what seats are to be scrapped?.
The task force chairman and most people who are talking about the report are accomplished people. People who have worked over the years. They have great work experience and are people to be looked up to. But is it all about governance? What happens to the unemployed who are the majority of Kenyans now.
The learned people who will just carry their certificates with them, knocking on doors and spending their time in cyber cafes applying for those advertised jobs or that unemployed person who does the informal job. Its time this report seriously addressed unemployment of the millions of youths. The old have now been given something to feed on after retirement even though health expenses are still there for them to figure out. I am looking forward to the day a parliamentarian will come up with a bill of having money set aside for the unemployed to get along on. It is not a new thing to the world.
Countries such as Norway, Finland, Sweden, Israel, Japan and Germany are offered unemployment pay; why not Kenya. As much as we are a developing country, Kenya should learn from these countries given the rate of unemployment.
This problem must be addressed up there with corruption and tribalism. If the BBI report does not address this, it doesn’t address the one major issue on every Kenyan’s mind. Its time the youth rose to campaign for this.
Nairobi
