‘Don’t be lazy, give us your ideas!’ Charlene Ruto tells Kenyan youth

President William Ruto’s daughter Charlene Ruto has delved into the unemployment menace in the country, advising the youth to step up and find their own footing in whatever they're passionate about instead of waiting around for non-existent help.

Charlene, who spoke on Citizen TV’s ‘Kenya’s Gold’ show on Wednesday, cited the lack of job opportunities for young people in the country saying it can only be solved by the youth creating opportunities for themselves.

The first daughter, who divulged that she had received many resume’s from her fellow youth begging for jobs, said young people in the country should seek alternatives since there are not enough gigs to accommodate their constantly ballooning number.

She thus urged young people not to sit around idly but rather to get out of their comfort zones and align themselves with the proper networks and opportunities.

“Through our organizations, if maybe we were to employ as many people as people, because I cannot tell you the amount of CVs on my desk and the requests for jobs, maybe we would employ 3,000 young people. It is a drop in the ocean, we are 70% of the over 50 million population of Kenya,” she said.

“The best thing we can do for our young people is create opportunities for them...the network. I’d like to call on our young people, let’s not sit and be lazy.”

Charlene went on to assert that the only thing the government can do is to pick up and bolster the opportunities already created by the youth themselves to grow their hustles.

She further cited her experience as the patron of the Smachs Foundation reiterating to the youth to pursue and embrace their passions rather than seek paid jobs, which she says may not be forthcoming.

“You are passionate about something, don’t give up on that. Reach out to us, and give us your idea. I give a listening ear to somebody who has already started something and I can see where they are going and I can put something in other than somebody who is like ‘give me a job’...which job?” She posed.

“Where am I going to get the job from? But if you tell me that ‘I’m passionate about tree planting or beekeeping, could you come to visit my farm or could you help me get a piece of land somewhere, I want to expand’...these are the young people we’re going to give a listening ear to.”