As a young man who has lived most of his life in Kibera slums, I have seen what youth can do when they have no hope.
Most of the time, you don’t believe what the youth can do. They go to political rallies not for the message but to snatch phones on their way home, maybe break into a grocery shop to pick some foodstuff or boutiques to steal some clothes.
Last week, I was in South Africa where I got a chance to visit the youth in the townships and their problems are the same as those faced by their Kenyan counterparts.
Six years ago, I was in Makoko slum in Nigeria and the challenges were the same. The youth are yearning for opportunities that are not there.
They are not scared of death; they can do anything to survive. I have been reflecting on this and I have given a lot of speeches about this topic around the world.
Africa has the youngest population in the world, with 70 percent of sub-Saharan Africa under the age of 30 according to United Nations figures released in 2021. With the continent having a total population of over 1.4 billion people, it means close to 1 billion are youth.
Such a high number of young people is an opportunity for the continent’s growth, but only if these new generations are fully empowered to realise their best potential.
Youth account for 60 percent of all of Africa’s jobless, according to the World Bank and the situation is even worse in slums, where according to a UN-Habitat report of 2020, over 48 percent of urban crime was instigated by young people from informal settlements.
This topic is more important now than ever before because the cost of living is high, population is increasing while rural-urban migration is happening now like never before. The urban centres are being populated with anger and frustration.
Africa is tipping towards an uprising that will be caused by these frustrated youth and I strongly believe it will start in the slums. It will not have a leader; It will happen spontaneously and the wealthy will be affected the most. For us to silence the guns, these youth need to be provided for with opportunities.
We cannot live in a country where a few have a lot and the majority have nothing or have no idea where their next meal will come from. The poor watch the wealthy flying, driving fuel guzzlers and visiting fancy places around the world.
How often do you ask your house help or security guard how their families are doing? Most of these people live in slums but we just pass them and go yet we trust them with our children and homes.
The poor have been ignored. They see a lot of food being wasted on social media by the rich. They see those in power creating positions for themselves and their cronies, they see the old guard getting positions and yet they are being told there are no opportunities. I am worried because we are sitting on a timebomb.
Some politicians are bargaining for their positions but what they don’t know is that when the revolution comes, no one will be spared.
Let me take you slowly, you saw the looting in Johannesburg at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic? The riots in Nigeria christened #EndSARS—the mass action calling for a complete ban of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the Nigerian police force.
In Ethiopia, people took to the streets in an effort to bring regime change. This is just the tip of the icebag. The youth in the slums are suffering and we don’t know for how long they will hold.
Soon, you will not enjoy driving your expensive car, you will instead have to erect big walls to protect yourself from them. That is what happens if the society forgets what Africans were all about.
Helping each other, sharing food; simply put in African culture, no one would die because of lack of food but now, it is everyone for themselves.
I know my article has stressed you but you agree with me that we need to do something. Government must invest in slums, youth groups and work with local organisations like Shofco.
They should also provide monthly stipends for young people in slums, ensure health centres are working, garbage collection is streamlined, the Kadogo economy is formalised and not taxed too much.
Government should provide education and job creation for the youth, come up with policies guiding companies in urban centres to cushion the urban poor and corporates supporting this group should be exempted from some taxes while Technical and Vocational Training Institutions (TVETs) should be built in slums.
Transformation in the slums is not about building new houses but investing in the people. My fellow Kenyans, you will see less crime if those doing well can also sponsor the smartest kids from the informal settlements, who will in turn come back and change their communities.
That is how you fight class war. If what I have said can be done, then don’t worry about an uprising in Kenya or indeed Africa, but if this is ignored, then be ready to face what will happen.
