In the past general elections, Korogocho was one of the wards in Nairobi county that had the highest number of youth contestants for the member of county assembly{MCA} political seat. Out of the 13 contestants, 10 were young people who came out to seek votes from 17,000 registered voters.

Joel Amboka the leader of boda boda riders in Korogocho popularly known as ‘Mwala’ says the boda boda riders played a big role in the rallying of youth to not only vote but also vie for various positions in Nairobi County. “the young people who are elected should come to us and thank us because we used our resources to support them and also to encourage people to vote for them. Truthfully speaking we worked so hard in all 9 villages, day and night to make sure young people participate fully during the election period.”

‘Mwala’ sentiments were echoed by Elizabeth Maithya a small-scale trader who retorted that the youth in Korogocho was very informed on rights and responsibilities about the election though she feels disappointed because there are no significant development projects promised by the youth leaders who are now in office. “The effort our young people did should be recognized and I expected things to change for better. Life has become so difficult for us at the local level. it is sad to see the rich getting richer and us getting poorer, people here have no money. I sell vegetables and I can’t count how many times they have gone bad because my customers can’t afford to buy them”.

 Korogocho had an estimated population of over 100,000 people,  65% are young people, and according to Abel Akim, a casual laborer there were so many youths who did not vote, and that was attributed to voters’ apathy and selling of votes “There were cases of young people who sold their votes to MCA from other areas who lured them using money and a trend that worries a lot because is like selling our future”.  The sentiments were echoed by several community members who pointed out that, vote buying and selling is a huge challenge, and this is because most of the do not have jobs and quick money is too good for them to turn their back on. According to them, there is a need for civic education and should start as early as now.

Despite the challenge of low turn-out of voters, the area Chief Nashon Opiyo congratulated the youth for maintaining peace before, during, and after the election. “ The youth are the leaders of now and not the future and that was well stated by Korogocho youth who apart from vying for the political positions and also voting really made our work easy as local security channels by preaching peace to their fellow youth who most of the time are normally used by some politicians to cause chaos during election like what we saw in 2007 post-election violence”. Korogocho youth have demonstrated that there are opportunities for young people in Kenya and despite the many challenges they face, there is a glimpse of hope for them to position themselves to make a change and improve the quality of their lives in the current government and future.

A photo of Korogocho slums