Youth eke a living from a dumpsite            Photo courtesy

The African youth are in a big dilemma. They witness their elderly leaders detain dissenting voices without due process; rob the populace through corruption; engage in electoral fraud; massacre populations and even bomb them as is the recent case in Libya. One would have thought that toys and toy games belong to the youthful in age. Not in Africa; young people watch in dismay as leaders play with toys - latest cars, motorbikes, and executive jets.  Hungry and angry young people are left staring by the roadside as water is splashed on them and their skins develop a second layer of dust as their leaders zoom past.

Instead of criticizing the United States of America for dishing out billions of shillings to influence Kenyan youth; anyone who is not a youth ought to stop and reflect on their role in the dilemma facing our youngsters. Young people in Africa have been forced by circumstances to opt to prefer their neighbor's parents simply because they live in an abusive and very violent home. 

Every other weekend, I see foreign couples wheeling around some adopted Kenyan kids that were reportedly abandoned in some dustbin or toilet. I have met a bitter European national of West African origin who has never forgiven his parents for "selling" him to a country that has little respect for blacks. He captures his anger in his writings.  

Drive in any remote or poor part of Kenya and you will see "development projects" driven not by Kenya government but by either International NGOs (INGOs) or some foreign government. Drive back to the city, and you will countenance huge private development projects for politically connected families. Simply stated, the other parents "care more" than the Kenyan ones. 

The only time toy totting individuals show interest in young people is election time. During political campaigns, young people are given free rides in the toys; alcohol flows freely and they even access phone numbers of the political elite. After elections; phone numbers are changed, a ring of body guards is thrown around the leaders and the youth are pushed and shoved off the road. The cycle is repeated after every five years. 

Respect for the aged, or senior citizens in Western countries stems from the fact that they contributed in building their country through work, taxes and at times military service. How do we expect the youth to respect those who have robbed and bombed the future out of them?  I have had the honor to address European youth forums supported by private sector and government that give the youth an opportunity to interrogate issues that affect society. In the U.S.A they are popularly referred to as summer schools. 

The youth in developed countries have access to the leadership and to opportunity to advance socially and economically. They contribute to national agenda. They are dispatched all over the world as interns and go back to breath fresh ideas into their national systems. Not so, in Africa; young people do not even know their own history - like in the film "Gods Must Be Crazy" they hunt for the end of the world.

Global competition to dominate and control resources is always nasty and is known to take no prisoners. Blinded by short term gains of shacking responsibility to their neighbors; African parents are slowly but surely disinheriting their children. By the time the 42.3% (of 40 million Kenyans) aged below 14 years hit 50; they will have become serfs for world powers.

Can this be corrected by the current leadership or youthful leaders? No, their software and operating system is already corrupted! 

By James Shikwati.

The author [email protected] is Director of  Inter Region Economic Network.