NAIROBI,Kenya – Despite massive street protests, a new survey shows youths are shallow in engaging with policy making processes.
It shows they don’t attend key forums unless they are given money and then whine about the outcome later.
The survey by Inuka Trust shows despite the massive political awakening witnessed among the young people during the consideration of the Finance bill 2024, they are still shallow and may not have as much impact.
The survey sampled some 1,535 young people through questionnaire through focus group discussions and key informant interviews.
It collected qualitative data through Key Informant Interviews and Focus Group Discussions in Nairobi, Kisumu, and Mombasa counties.
It was conducted between March and May 2024 preceding the youth-led protests in June.
Civic Voice Initiative of Inuka Trust project director Abdul Noormohamed said a review of massive protests in other parts of Africa did not translate into productive youth participation in politics.
“From the outset of the Civic Voice project, we acknowledged the prevalent issue of low youth engagement in civic and political affairs, a trend observed across Africa,” he said.
“Heightened youth involvement, such as the protests in Sudan leading to the removal of Omar Bashir, the #EndSARS demonstrations in Nigeria, and the #FeesMustFall movement in South Africa, have been sporadic and short-lived.”
The report shows that most young people are economically disempowered and when invited to public civic foras, they ask if they would be given some money.
“In all three counties, young people expressed that they are motivated by money to attend and participate in civic and political activities,” report reads.
“When invited to a meeting, the first question they ask is, “kuna kakitu?” which directly translates to “Is there something for us?” referring to some form of payment or transport reimbursement.”
“This means that the involvement of young people is often driven by financial incentives rather than having clear objectives,” the report reads.
This is despite the report showing that 81.04 per cent of young people sampled are aware that democracy is based on public participation.
However, the report shows that youths aged 18-25, do not fully understand how democracy relates to civic and political rights and responsibilities.
“Our findings show that young people not fully understand this connection. This may be due to a lack of proper civic and political education as outlined in the Constitution of Kenya 2010. As a result, they might not be active and informed citizens. Many young people are unsure how their political and civic rights affect their participation,” it says.
Further, 30.6 per cent of young people have the highest level of confidence in the country’s political and civic processes. Some 41.7 per cent feel somewhat confident and 27.7 per cent lack confidence altogether.
“During focus group discussions, young people mentioned that the technical language used in forums, especially in budget-making processes, hindered their participation,” report shows.
“They also felt unprepared to review large documents and bills and submit memorandums and petitions. These factors contribute to the varying levels of confidence among the youth.”
Language and age is a barrier to the youth participation in the processes, with some in Mombasa complaining that the policy documents have jargons and legalese that impairs their basic understanding.
“In Mombasa county, young people mentioned that a language barrier, which they referred to as “kizungu mingi” (too much English’), lowers their confidence. They find some words and their meanings unfamiliar,” the report reads.
For those in Kisumu, they claim that they are dismissed when they question key decision or contribute to discussion as too young to understand.
It is for these and other reasons that the report finds that “65.5 per cent of young people do not attend any civic forums, raising questions about their interest in civic participation.”
Some 14.9 per cent of the young people participated in budget-making forums, 14.7 per cent in county planning forums.
Some 11.7 per cent participated in policy formulation forums and 21.5 per cent in citizen or resident association forums.
In Mombasa, 519 respondents participated, drawn from Changamwe, Jomvu, Kisauni, Likoni and Nyali constituencies.
In Kisumu, 507 respondents participated, drawn from Kisumu East, Kisumu West, Kisumu Central, Seme and Nyando.
Nairobi had 509 participants from Kibra, Starehe, Embakasi East, Embakasi West, Embakasi South, Embakasi North, Mathare, Kasarani, Langata, Eastleigh, Westlands, Dagoretti, and Ruaraka constituencies.
This article was first published on, The Star Newspaper.
