Unemployment has been a recurring issue in Kenya. Kenneth Kibichi from Aldai in Nandi county is among Kenyan youth grappling with unemployment
Having graduated with a First Class Honors in Actuarial Science, Kibichi has remained jobless for five years.
He seems to have a dark cloud of misfortune hovering over his life, and he cannot seem to disentangle from it.
First, he lost both parents when he was joining High School…. his father in 2009 due to a stroke and his mum followed a year later. Despite the setbacks, Kibichi was not distracted from school as he figured that his only hope now lay in education.
He sat his Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exams at Kemeloi Boys High School and scored an A minus. With an impressive grade, he secured himself a slot at Karatina University and performed well despite the difficult situation he was learning through.
While at the university, he also faced challenges which, at some point, forced him to do side hustles in order to afford food and paying rent.
“While in fourth year, I had to do a side hustle of travelling to Sagana to do paintings on Fridays and return on Mondays for classes to raise some money for rent and food,” Kibichi told Kisasa News
In 2017, the 30-year-old graduated from the university with first-class honours in actuarial science, with high expectations of securing a plum job in the formal sector.
“I wished to secure a job to help my siblings hut unfortunately, I have been making several applications in vain,” he continues
A few months later it dawned on him that the world of employment was murky and that it didn’t open its arms to graduates as easily as he thought.
Kibichi says that he’s so far knocked on doors at Kenya Revenue Authority, Kenya Defence Forces, KenGen, and National Intelligence Service among others. Kibichi rides boda boda for living Five years since he graduated, the dejected young man now makes a living riding boda boda in the village.
The only meaningful work experience he got was joining Cohort 1 of the Public Service Commission PSIP Internship in 2019 but the government did not absorb them.
“When I’m not doing boda boda I look for other hustles. For instance I worked with the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) during the last general election as a presiding officer,” he says
He tarmacked for over five years but he has not been fortunate to secure a job forcing him to turn to the boda boda business.
Kibichi hopes to secure a job in future and pursue a master’s degree.
