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A few months ago I decided to visit one of my construction projos - in Ruaka - very early in the morning just to find out how the kazi ya mkono guys were faring. The foreman was usually the last to arrive on site later in the morning, so this was the perfect opportunity to find out how he was treating the workers – almost all of them being Gen z’s – and if he was paying them their allocated dues. Little did I know how much of an enjoyable eye-opening experience it would be.
I have always been an early riser ever since my colle days when we would pull triple shifts at McDees, on-campus work study jobs and graveyard shift factory jobs, plus 18-21 hour course loads per week, all at the same time. I remember how doing all that would get you so tired that after a few weeks of the same, you stopped feeling tired at all as your body went into autopilot after getting used to it.
To date, I can’t sleep earlier than midnight and neither can I wake up later than 4 a.m, 7 days a week. So I arrived at around 6 am and strolled onto site, much to the surprise of the 15 or so workers who had arrived and were busy opening the site house, getting the tools, generators and concrete shakers ready, for the long day that lay ahead.
I had never spoken to them directly. I preferred to deal with them through the foreman, because despite the fact that I would enjoy being very hands-on in years prior, I had started to delegate as I had other projects and matters of import elsewhere to attend to. So they were surprised to see “bossy” as they called me, arrive and break bread with them that early in the morning. Little did I know what interesting things were in store for me.
After the usual pleasantries, they all sat down and we opened up the discussion. I was happy to find out that the foreman was actually very good to all of them, treated them with respect and paid them their dues faithfully with no issues whatsoever. I then asked them about their lives in general, how they were coping and of course how they felt the economy and the government in general were. The answers they gave me were shocking to say the least.
First of all, I was surprised to find out that almost all of them had either a TVET diploma of some sort and some actually had either some university education or a degree from our local universities! As for the economy and politics, the usual slew of complaints came at my ears in a blue streak
Ooooo gava ni mbaya
Ooooo no jobs
Ooooo economy ni bure
I looked at this group of intelligent guys and thought to myself; something was amiss here. These guys were clearly not dumb, and of clearly not lazy, as kazi ya mjengo is no joke!
I asked one of them - a rotund young man with a shifty look - what he had studied and why he thought things were so bad for them. What he said was quite something. He went on for about 2 minutes about how he could not find a real job after studying Marketing at MKU. That’s how he ended up battling with cement at the construction site. I asked another young man the same question. He said he had studied construction technology but - again - could not find a job so had no choice but to do kazi ya mkono work. Looking at this group of young men, I shook my head in amazement. I then began to ask them a very simple question.
I asked them why, with all their education and work ethic, couldn’t they create jobs for themselves like the rest of humanity has done, some of us inclusive. They seemed dumbfounded at the question. Then came the responses, slowly at first, then in a flood.
Oooo no capital
Oooo Kanjo watasumbua
Ooooo taxes are too high
Ooo..Oooo…
I looked at them, smiled and shook my head in amazement, before asking them to show me their phones. They all showed me gleaming, smart phones. Some brand new. Others were high end brands that were worth 20k KES or more! Even if bought used!
I pointed at those phones and asked them. Na hiyo capital ya kununua hizo simu ulipata wapi? A stunning silence followed.
I pointed out how they were all “well fed” and not starving. They also said they all had places to live in. Some with their parents. Most of the rest in their own bedsitters. I then ask them if they entertained themselves with the money they earned daily at the mjengo. The response was hilarious. “Sherehe lazima.” “ Mzinga lazima tukunywe sometimes” and so on.
It’s at that point that I explained to them what their REAL problem was, and it was a very simple one.
They all lacked the ability to not only obtain and implement actionable knowledge and information, but to also manage their resources well and risk-take in order to escape their dire circumstances.
In other words, with a little actionable knowledge, self-discipline, planning and entrepreneurship (which is another name for risk taking), there was no excuse whatsoever to be doing kazi ya mkono mjengo work. Work usually reserved for illiterates.
I then asked another question. How many of them had a diploma in construction technology or related fields. Several hands shot up. I asked those whose hands shot up; if you guys know all about and have practical experience in site excavation, setting out, foundation blinding, walling, columning and so much more, why can’t you start your own business of building homes, hata kama ni tiny bungalows huko ushago? Or specialize in doing mouldings; a high-demand high-paying niche, for example? More loud silence.
Then one lanky fellow raised his hand and said. “Bossy, mimi nimesomea art and design lakini sikupata job, ndo maana niko hapa. Life haiko fair na gava ni very corrupt na imekataa ku.......” I stopped him mid sentence and asked; can you produce paintings? Artworks and crafts? “Of course,” he responded. Why then can’t you use your talents to make them and sell them to others for a living, growing your clientele over time? He looked confused. Clearly he had not thought about all that ever in his life. As with many of his generation, he was just waiting for someone to give him a job, like it were manna from heaven. Once that plan failed he felt his life was doomed.
The discussion continued on and on for the next half an hour or so. Some got what I was showing them. Others stared blankly on like zombies. Already convinced in their minds that life was too difficult, suffering was their portion and that only the GoK could solve their swarms of problems. When I explained to them that the role of any government is not to create jobs but to get out of our hair and create an enabling environment for the citizenry to pursue their dreams and self-actualize, some looked at me like I was telling them some strange new revolutionary concept gleaned from far away planets!
I will never forget the hazy look in those youngsters' eyes on that day. For some of them, my questions and messages hit them hard. About a year later after that discussion, it warmed my heart when one of them contacted me and said I changed his life on that day. He said he went home that night and couldn’t shake what I had spoken of to them out of his mind. He decided to save up some of his money, quit the drinking and the partying, sell off some of the possessions he really didn’t need and go full scale into his passion - which was what he had studied at a TVET: carpentry. He had opened a small kibanda where he started making small stools and tables, which to his shock, he found out people actually came by and bought from him. He told me he was earning in a day what he used to earn in two weeks as a kazi ya mjengo guy. He now had a bigger operation that was making all sorts of furniture. Business was so brisk that he could not even keep up with his orders.
Life is an interesting thing. As with the aforementioned mjengo group, some Gen-z’rs will gerrit while others will keep gnashing teeth at mahandamanos. The world does not owe Gen-z’s (or any human being for that matter) anything. They have to sweat for it like the rest of us did. I once found a Gen-z with a hurubaro selling peeled sugarcane who told me that from his simple operation, he had not only fed his family and paid rent monthly, but had also bought a small plot upon which he planned to build his home to escape rent in the fullness of time. No whining about Gok. About peni mbili politricks. About high taxes and blah blah blah.
Just working like life depended on it (it does), trusting the process, being patient, not whining 24/7 about things you can never control and getting it done.
Ni hayo tu.