This archive report was first published on 21 December 2019.
December 21, 2019
President Uhuru Kenyatta, I write to you today as a broken Kenyan youth, desperate for a chance to turn my life around. My name is Wilson Manyuira, and I'm one of the many young people who voted for you in the hope that you would understand our struggles.
My journey has been far from rosy. I cleared university in 2015, but instead of getting employment, I was met with a frozen government recruitment process. The economy was harsh, and private businesses were retrenching existing staff members instead of hiring new ones. I applied for over 1,000 jobs, but to no avail.
Desperate for a way out, I turned to the hotel business, but my café in Mlango Kubwa never broke even. The banks couldn't lend me capital, and even if they could, it was too risky to lend to SMEs due to the capping of interest rates. I was forced to beg and steal to survive.
As I struggled to make ends meet, I was reminded of the sacrifices my mother, Hellen Wanja, made for me. She wanted me to be a lawyer or a doctor, but I ended up as a career farmhand, loading and unloading cement on vehicles. I felt like a failure.
My village is now filled with graduates like me, who are forced to do menial jobs to survive. We sweep pubs, smoke weed, and pray for cars to get stuck in the mud so we can charge to 'unstuck' them. It's a sad reality, Mr. President.
But I hold on to hope, not just for myself, but for my two girls, Wanja and Hellen. I sometimes think of throwing a stone into the police station or at you, but then I remember my Angel Wanja is only 5 months old. And she needs her papa.
Mr. President, I implore you to lead the country better. Unstuck us from this jobless mess we're in today. Give us a chance to live a dignified life.
