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In Kenya today, securing a decent job after graduation can be extremely challenging, with many young people struggling to find employment despite years of searching.
For Michael (not his real name), 29, landing a good job after campus was his dream, but nothing seemed to work out after he graduated.
He endured a very difficult life, which eventually pushed him into crime. “Sometimes I would go hungry because I had nothing to eat. Even getting small casual jobs required connections, which I rarely had,” he explained.
Faced with these hardships, he decided to join a criminal gang in his neighborhood in Githurai. The group primarily stole motorbikes, which they would refurbish and sell at lower prices—a way to survive, he said, when he had nothing else to eat.
Michael confessed that he often lied to his close relatives, telling them he had a decent job in Nairobi whenever they asked about his life. He admitted that he never wanted a criminal life, as he knew well the consequences, but he felt he had no other choice at the time.
At one point, one of their gang members was shot dead, but this didn’t deter him; he had become deeply entrenched in crime. However, he recalls one incident that would change everything: they stole a motorbike from a boda boda operator in Nairobi, and this time, the situation turned out to.To read more, tap herew
