In the western world there is often talk of the baby-boomers, which post World War II generation gave birth to the heady hedonism of the 1960s, the industry of the 1980s and perversely, the conservatism and war-like interventionism of the present day. In Japan there is talk of a lost generation, those who suffered through the shrinkage of the Japanese economy following its continuous and spectacular growth through the post war period up to the 1990s, and who today find themselves contemplating life paths more difficult and different than what previous generations had faced. This article here is about you, about our Kenyan lost generation.

In the 1960s , 70s and up to the early 80s most Kenyan college and high school graduates did not know how to produce resumes as they simply did not have to go out 'tarmacking'. They were assured of job postings immediately after their studies or in the hiring events throughout the country.

The University of Nairobi

In addition there were abundant job opportunities in the public service which was deemed highly prestigious. Launching into an entrepreneurial career was uncommon and even looked down upon as professional jobs were glorified and small business owners thought of as losers, the ones who could not make it elsewhere. The governments of this period worked to reinforce this idea, recruiting the brightest and the best students into the civil service and promoting this as a form of patriotic duty. These were the days when parents would choose to allow their children either to continue with higher education (A-levels or technical training at a national polytechnic) or to take up a job with a local bank after their O' Levels.

This idyllic bliss did not survive the 1980s as various events came together to wreck havoc on an employment-dependent society and give rise to a 'lost generation' of youths who could not develop in the traditional progression of earlier generations.

Hard Times

The 1980s were a tumultuous time world-wide. The Cold War, the Falklands War, the Iran-Iraq war and closer home trouble in Uganda - described a period of great shifts in the nature of the world. Within our borders the June 1982 amendment to create a de jure multi-party state, the August 1982 coup and subsequent intrigues came to a head in the intense political oppression encapsulated in the Nyayo House torture chambers. The effort to crush opposition to the government shook up the country and its universities particularly hard towards the end of the 80s and university riots and closures became the order of the day. Forced to circle his wagons, then President Moi took to a culture of cronyism that surpassed even the excesses of the Kenyatta period. Loyalty and a 'who-do-you-know' economic culture pervaded up and down the country as at every level it became important to have around you people you could trust implicitly. Talent and hard work were sacrificed as resources were expended on building ties with and bribing powerful officials in order to get ahead.

once sources of great wealth

These political troubles would in themselves not have wrought much damage to the national make-up, but they were reinforced with economic hardships that made life in Kenya extremely difficult. Droughts and famines ravaged the land throughout the 1980s and into the 1990s, the burgeoning population demanded more resources -schools, hospitals, police services - and yet the decreased productivity and increasing corruption left very little over for change creating valuable projects.

Land pressure in the rural areas led to a burgeoning rural-urban migration as the opportunities in the rural areas grew fewer. In part this was due to the diminished income from coffee, especially following the collapse in prices after Vietnam's forceful entry into the global market. The debt from the1960s and 1970s came in to play, the World Bank and the IMF begun to peddle ESAPs and cost-sharing. Economic liberalization led to the closure of a whole slew of industries across the country, great job losses and increasing pressure on the job market. In other sectors like cotton and sugar, it led to the opening up of the country to cheap imports that jolted industries that had existed in a wholly non-competitive environment. Price controls were a thing of the past and many previously widely consumed resources became luxuries. The World Bank has recently expressed regret over its part in this mismanagement, which led to an increase in the number of Kenyans living under absolute poverty from 11 million (48% of the population) in 1990 to 17 million (56% of the population) in 2001 despite various interventions by the government and the bank.

One of these resources, that were transmuted into luxuries was public education. At the end of the 1980s, the 8.4.4 system of education came into being. The double entry of the Form Four and the last Form Six graduates into public universities followed in the early 90's. In both the university and at high school level, there was an increase in the number of students missing out on places in their schools of choice as the quota-system was implemented as a sort of affirmative action to improve the prospects for those from previously marginalized areas.

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With university places far fewer than the number of graduates, even successful applicants to the universities were compelled into taking courses they were notinterested in, or alternatively into leaving the country to study abroad. New cut-off systems were invented to elect what students would go to what universities. Soon, you could have a B+ and get called up to study Hotel Management at Kenyatta University when you had wanted to study Pharmacy at the University of Nairobi. Those who could find jobs found that there was not as much money in these jobs as their parents had enjoyed when they graduated from high school or university. Plans and prospects such as buying cars or homes by one's thirtieth birthday became the stuff of fantasy. All in all it was a hard time to be making the transition from childhood into adulthood. Around the country, many people continued to live in their parents homes long after they had graduated from high school. Dependency ratios became even more pronounced.

This run through history is contemplated in the hope that reflecting on it will empower us not only to deal with the realities we face now, but also to work against our repeat of the mistakes of the past. The dynamics of the birth of our lost generation are still at play, and with them the possibility that we will not rescue ourselves from this mess. The bogeyman of government cannot shoulder the entire blame, but a little introspection may offer a way out.

Why the unemployment

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In as much as slow economic growth and poor national resulted in high unemployment, a devious cultural reality was taking root. Starting in the 1980s and 1990s, many companies including those removed from the reach of the government stopped hiring management trainees and the recognition of talent and industry fell to the way side as nepotism captured centre stage. The vicious cycle went like this. When state corporations and the government became slaves to the new culture of ‘deal-making', buying decisions stopped being influenced on economic rationale. Instead they had to be targeted at fulfilling some private need. Talent was brought in not to create a growing business, but instead to keep it close and quiet and to facilitate the next deal. In the absence of long term growth strategies, a brief case firm only needed the services of a messenger and a clerk of some sort. A deal worth 200 million shillings could be decided over lunch and then sold on to various implementers who were similarly constituted. With the government able to pay commencement fees and vetting procedures regularly flouted profits were gained in the blink of an eye. Soon, even the professionals got into the game, the only long-term game was land and housing purchases, and even here the culture of quick-fixing resulted in shoddy high-rises and sub-standard amenities. National standards fell and a culture of mediocrity swept the nation as professionals with little income from their traditional lines of work took to promoting and participating in corruption as an alternative source of income. Whether it was policemen or judges, surveyors and valuers, bank managers and auditors, doctors and nurses, journalists and other regulators the race was on, and as graft raised her hands in triumph so did good professional work make less economic sense. Short-cuts reigned supreme, scrimping on quality but achieving the mega-buck. Thus did the informal economy continue to grow rapidly, with a brief-case company mushrooming for every tender and the queues of jobless talent stretching into the horizon.

The Lost Generation Today

This generation was therefore compelled into a self-examination that had been absent from the nation previously. The results of that self-examination and the continuous struggle will affect our nation for a long time from now. The phenomenon of this lost generation, as is clear from the rise of the Mungiki menace, is something policy holders ignore at their own peril.

The future - not lost anymore

However, all is not doom and gloom. The anger and frustration of this band of brothers has been the fuel behind a new band of entrepreneurial Kenyans forced into forging their destinies out of the nothingness that Kenya has presented to them. Scattered to the corners of the world, they have been forced to create new realities, starting some of Kenya's biggest industries and leading Kenya's charge into the modern world. The lack of employment kindled a self-sufficiency and entrepreneurial spirit that if enhanced will serve well to create a culture on innovation and wealth creation countrywide. These once lost Kenyans are today responsible for supporting from abroad large numbers of the local population through remittances from overseas. In Kenya, they are at the vanguard of a new culture of investment in the stock market and leveraging on the skills their extended education has given them, they are inventing new business processes, e.g. SoftLaw or StocksKenya. Those of this generation of Kenyans abroad are well placed to contribute to Kenya's approaching a tipping point in its business culture from which the possibilities will be truly endless. Examples such as that of Ayisi Makatiani are proof that more important than any remittances of financial resources back home, these Kenyans are forging business organizations that are taking on the most current and advanced business concepts and practices from around the world, and blazing a trail that will lead to a wealthier, more productive and more stable future for subsequent age groups.

Forced to the wall, will they validate the old saying that necessity is the mother of invention, and transform Kenya like America's baby boomers transformed her?