By Peter Mwibanda
NAIROBI, Kenya (IP)
The engines were roaring. Cameras flashing. Promises flowing faster than boda fares on a Friday night.
President William Ruto flanked by gleaming new motorcycles declared earlier this year that Kenyan youth were about to ride straight into prosperity.
But months later the bikes have gone the way of most Kenyan promises: parked firmly in imagination land.
Thousands of young people are still stranded at the bus stop of hope wondering if they should start walking to employment instead.
It was supposed to be simple. Youth groups get motorbikes, they join the hustler economy, self-employment blossoms and unemployment statistics wobble in delight.
Instead, the only thing wobbling is public trust. The motorbikes it seems, are still warming up at State House perhaps waiting for a mechanic, a miracle, or another election.
Grassroots youth groups report no follow-up, no paperwork and no delivery.
Just silence. It’s as if the whole thing was a grand theatre production: Act I, the President waves keys; Act II, media claps; Act III, curtain falls. Exit motorbikes, stage left.
This isn’t just about two wheels and a helmet. It’s about the government’s obsession with the “announcement economy,” where policy is measured not by results, but by how many headlines it can generate.
Call it governance by PowerPoint — all slides, no substance.
Where’s the list of beneficiaries? Who’s overseeing the project? Did the Treasury forget to fuel the program or did someone simply misplace the keys?
The Ministry of Youth Affairs has gone mum, counties are shrugging and the once-revving engines have turned into the nation’s biggest case of ghost riding.
Young Kenyans aren’t asking for miracles. They’re asking for programs that don’t vanish faster than a campaign handout.
They want accountability, structure and policies that survive longer than a photo-op.
Until then, the State House motorcycles are less about empowerment and more about performance art.
The government promised the youth a fast lane to success but so far all they’ve been given is the world’s longest traffic jam.
So the big question remains: Where are the motorbikes?
Right now, it’s all revved up and absolutely nowhere to go.
