The research was carried out in three Sub Counties; Makueni, Mbooni and Kaiti. The study targeted youth leaders, youth in groups and youth not in groups. Data was collected through Focus Group Discussions and Key Informant Interviews. The team managed to do nine focused group discussions and seven key informant interviews across the three sub-counties. The key areas that informed the discussions was youth understanding of the Constitution of Kenya 2010 including; Chapter 4 and 6 of the Constitution, public participation, civic education, youth priority needs and their role in holding the Government of Kenya accountable in development projects.
Youth priority needs in Makueni County are not different from those affecting other youth in Kenya, they include; employment, skill development, information access and utilization, Agricultural technologies and financial access. The level of computer literacy is high. This is attributed to the different programs being implemented in the County such as Tusome Computer Mashinani and the Establishment of ICT centres in every ward. This is an opportunity that can be harnessed through use of technology in order to access employment online jobs such as Ajira, network and creation of innovations that can be sold or utilized to generate income. The results below reflect findings from key areas that the study investigated;
Public Participation and Inclusivity: The level of participation of the youth in the County is very low. This is attributed to lack of information and inappropriate communications channels. Although there are public participation fora organized, most of the youth do not attend. This continued absence from meetings means that their views are never known let alone being taken into consideration.
Good leadership, accountability and transparency: From the perspective of youth, the County leadership is good. The youth indicated that they were aware of the development activities the County government was engaged in. However, they faulted the government’s level of accountability and transparency, stating that they are rarely informed about the utilization of finances and resources. Nevertheless, they thought that the level of corruption was low.
Civic education: According to the youth the level of civic education is very low. Participants in the Focus Group Discussions argued that civic education meetings were held mainly in the urban areas and rarely in the villages. Most of them resided in these villages.
Way forward
After the research it was recommended that more officials in the national government to juxtapose their views with those of their counterparts at the County level and the role of technology in youth development needs to be addressed in a holistic way.