Kenya's youth unemployment epidemic: A ticking time bomb for crime, violence

Over 5,000 respondents to a state study on underlying factors contributing to crime incidents in Kenya listed unemployment as the leading vulnerability, leading many Kenyans to crime.

Focused group discussions held in 11 counties pointed out unemployment as one of the leading causes of crime in Nyeri, Makueni, Garissa, Uasin Gishu, Embu, Kakamega, Nakuru, Kisumu, Nyamira, Mombasa, and Nairobi, according to the report by the National Crime Research Centre (NCRC) released in December last year.

It recommended strengthening economic empowerment programmes targeting the vulnerable members of society, a recommendation that has been implemented this year with the widely criticised Labour Mobility Initiative, which is connecting unemployed Kenyans with jobs abroad.

The initiative further seeks to mitigate against youth being vulnerable to negative social pursuits such as being lured into organised criminal gangs and other violent extremist groups.

This will add to the already growing number of Kenyans working overseas, currently standing at four million and distributed across the United States, Canada, the United Arab Emirates, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the Seychelles.

While the initiative will help bridge the unemployment gap, the National Security Report tabled before parliament by President William Ruto during the State of the Nation address shows more still needs to be done.

Youth uprising

With the ongoing wave of youth uprising in the region including in Kenya as witnessed during the Gen Z protests in June, multiple reports have warned that unemployment is a ticking time bomb that if not addressed will lead to further revolt.

In Kenya, according to the annual report, unemployment remains a significant socio-economic challenge in the country affecting a cross-section of Kenyans especially the youth who make up 35 per cent of the population.

This has been worsened by a decline in real average earnings across the private and public sectors.

"The unemployment in the country stands at 12.7 per cent of the employable population, with the youth comprising 67 per cent," the report states.

The report notes that gender disparities are also evident, with women facing unemployment rates nearly twice as high as men.

The brief state of security report issued by Interior PS Raymond Omollo while delivering the statement of security preparedness ahead of the festive season showed that security agencies are alert to a possible rise in crime during the festive season.

"The current security situation across the country remains calm. However, we have witnessed isolated cases of marginal rise in crime rates and illegal activities during some festive seasons in the past," the PS said.

Efforts to address unemployment, according to the report will have the government prioritise the expansion of technical training institutions to bridge the skills gap for job creation and self-employment, fund entrepreneurship through capital funding initiatives and enhance online jobs adoption as is currently happening under the Ajira Digital Programme which seeks to impart young Kenyans with skills that assist them make a dignified livelihood from the digital space.

The initiative has helped many youths acquire jobs online as digital and e-commerce marketers, online freelancers, transcriptors, data entry clerks, video editors, writers and translators as well as virtual assistants.

Other initiatives include the government internship programme, recruitment of youth to the National Youth Service for them to be engaged in national development and security initiatives as well as the implementation of the public-private initiatives to generate more employment opportunities.