This archive report was first published on 26 October 2019.
Published on October 26, 2019, a story by BBC News Africa highlighted the plight of young Kenyan women who earn a living by writing school assignments and term papers for lazy, rich college kids in the US, UK, and other countries.
According to the story, these women, including 'Gail,' earn at least $320 (Sh32,000) a month, enough to pay rent and buy food. However, the real story here is the desperation of these young Kenyans who have become so desperate in life as to resort to such ways of earning a living.
It is not a new story, really. Western media has been awash with stories on how Kenya has become the hotbed of essay writing factories in which jobless Kenyan students with a great command of English help Western students earn their degrees, one essay at a time.
These Kenyan youth are not lazy, but rather, they are brilliant and educated individuals who have been cheated out of a system that rewards mediocrity. They have degrees in economics, engineering, literature, and mathematics, but their intellect is misused to help American kids get through college.
It is time for the Kenyan government to take responsibility for failing these young people. They were sold the Kenyan dream; go to school, take your studies seriously, earn that degree, and we will give you a job. But the government failed them, and now they are being shamed all over the world for just trying to put food on the table.
