Young people perceive good governance as ‘irrelevant’
Mobile phones have become an integral part of modern life, just like food, shelter and clothing.
It is the way we send and receive money, and access information — including from government institutions — store vital documents or even run businesses.
Yet among Kenyan youth, who use phones to access new ideas, markets, customers, partners and support networks, the technology does not connect them with the government, its institutions and leaders.
It is only useful when it helps them “upgrade’ and express their ‘self’ better, and give an extra “kick” to their hustles, says the latest survey by Research Plus Africa.
AIRTIME
According to the survey, the youth spend between Sh600 and Sh1,172 per month on airtime and they primarily use their phones for social matters such as making calls, sending text messages, surfing the internet and social media.
About one in four also use their phones to take photos of themselves.
The study shows that young people’s media consumption habits and spending are changing swiftly to match transitions in their personal and social lives.
The media also shape youth self-narrative and their perception of the community and their role in it.
The survey, however, painted them as a renegade generation who do not care about governance despite constituting a large chunk of the electorate.
DECISION-MAKING
With about three in five Kenyans aged below 25, it is critical that this group takes part in decision-making, which governs their present and future affairs.
Ironically, over 40 per cent of those within the age bracket of 15-24 interviewed for the survey said they perceive governance as irrelevant to their lives.
The findings show that seven out of 10 young people do not understand devolved government, devolution or the role they can or should play in devolution.
As a result, many of them engage in selected governance activities such as voting merely due to social pressure or to earn money.
“These stimuli shape unhealthy perception of what it means to be part of governance,” says the survey commissioned by Well Told Story, a youth NGO that partners with the Saturday Nation to publish Shujaaz magazine once a month.
DISGRUNTLED
The survey says youth feel disgruntled that despite persistently raising issues that are most important to them — all focused on the immediacy of time (now!) and location (my hood!) — they find that political strategies continue to ignore their needs, making them angry and disillusioned.
About 80 per cent of the youth are not completely sure about what decisions their county governments make.
Asked what role they play in governance, some 38 per cent of the respondents said they do not believe youth have any role at all.
Only a small proportion have found a way to positively engage with the government, mostly through lobby groups, while 92 per cent have never engaged with a government agent or agency.
MISS OUT
But as the debate on two-thirds gender rule ranges on in Parliament, many young girls with inspiration to become leaders might miss out on the potential benefits since they are socialised to excel as wives and mothers, not as business persons or political leaders.
Role models — females in power positions — are few, and for those elected, the requirements are much higher than for their male counterparts.
But when asked about leadership, many said that political roles, such as those of Woman Representatives, are unclear or have limited responsibilities that are not visible in the community.
This all conspires to prevent and disincentivise young women’s engagement in governance at any level, according to the report.
On a social level, the respondents, however, said that their mothers are the most influential people in their lives.
The young people also considered themselves to be second in influence in their own lives with fathers coming a distant third, an indication that although men may dominate the public sphere, they hold little sway in the private lives of young people of either gender.

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