True empowerment is not a campaign slogan shouted from a sunroof, but a silent, structural revolution that puts capital and skills directly into the hands of the youth.

As political actors rush to launch "empowerment" drives ahead of the next cycle, we must reject initiatives that are designed to harvest votes rather than harvest prosperity, demanding instead institutional frameworks that outlast the tenure of their patrons. The current obsession with wheelbarrows, motorcycles, and cash handouts is a band-aid on a bullet wound, treating the symptoms of unemployment while ignoring the systemic disease.

Structure Over Spectacle

Genuine economic agency requires a boring, unsexy infrastructure: access to low-interest credit, market linkages, and technical training. Programmes like the proposed "Nyota" initiative, if implemented correctly, offer a glimpse of what is possible when policy replaces populism.

We need to move away from the "Big Man" syndrome where a politician's benevolence determines a community's survival. Empowerment must be a right, codified in law and executed by faceless bureaucrats, not a favor dispensed at weekend rallies.

• The Sustainability Test: If a project collapses the moment the MP loses his seat, it was never empowerment; it was patronage.
• Skills vs. Stuff: Giving a youth a fishing rod is useless if the river is owned by a cartel. We must address the structural barriers to market entry.
• The Dignity of Labor: Structured programmes respect the recipient's intelligence; political handouts insult their dignity.

The 2027 Horizon

As the political drums begin to beat for 2027, the youth must be vigilant. They must demand policies that can be audited, scaled, and sustained.

We are tired of "projects" that are nothing more than campaign vehicles. It is time to build an economy that works for everyone, not just those who catch the eye of a visiting dignitary. Structured empowerment is the only path to true liberation.