- Jubilee Holdings CEO Julius Kipng’etich urged MKU graduates to create jobs instead of waiting for employment opportunities.
- He encouraged them to embrace entrepreneurship, digital skills, artificial intelligence and lifelong learning.
- Kipng’etich also challenged graduates to lead ethically, create opportunities for others and pursue opportunities beyond Kenya.
Jubilee Holdings Group CEO Julius Kipng’etich has urged graduates to build opportunities for themselves rather than wait for employers to create jobs.
Dr Kipng’etich made the remarks while addressing graduands at Mount Kenya University’s (MKU) 29th graduation ceremony on August 7. The event’s theme was “Youth as Architects of Social Change, Ethical Governance and Inclusivity.”
He told the graduating class that social change cannot happen if young people rely solely on employment opportunities created by others. Instead, they ought to create opportunities for themselves and for those around them.
To illustrate his point, Dr Kipng’etich described how one graduate opening a restaurant can set off a chain reaction. The business employs a cook, buys produce from farmers and pays boda riders for transport.
He said this shows how a single individual can contribute to the wider employment ecosystem, driving the kind of social change many desire while also earning a living.
Dr Kipng’etich reminded the graduands that their degree is only a foundation. A commerce graduate, he said, can go on to build a successful private health clinic, just as an engineer “can walk away from a building site and establish a potato farm.”
Their certificate, he added, has no limit as to where their usefulness can take them.
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Turning to global sport for inspiration, Dr Kipng’etich pointed to the FIFA World Cup as proof that humble beginnings need not limit ambition.
“You have seen how young players from humble backgrounds beat extraordinary odds of being immigrants to being globally celebrated soccer icons. You too can craft your own destiny from today or continue the destiny you have moulded for the last four or so years into a celebrated life,” he said.
He also encouraged graduates to look beyond Kenya’s borders. “MKU alumni found opportunities in Germany, Austria and many other countries,” he said. “Be ambitious and try your opportunity outside the box.”
Acknowledging the political consciousness among Kenya’s current generation of young people, Dr Kipng’etich urged those eyeing political office to avoid inheriting old political strategies.
“Be a different kind of leader, one who debates ideas rather than identities; one who builds coalitions rather than personalities,” he said.
He further advised graduates to pursue lifelong learning through continuous reskilling and upskilling in digital literacy, data and emerging tools such as artificial intelligence, noting that the jobs of 2030 will demand competencies that they are yet to see.
Dr Kipng’etich also called on the youth to conduct themselves ethically, both in business and in public life. “In the political arena, whether as a candidate or a citizen, it means refusing to trade your vote, your voice or your silence, for a handout,” he said. “The world will not always be watching you. Be ethical anyway.”
He closed with a challenge for graduates to empower others as they rise. “Whether you rise to manage a company, run a farm, or sit in public office, ensure the people around you, your colleagues, your community, your constituents, feel the benefit of your success too. Mentor someone. Make room for someone. Build systems that do not only serve you,” he concluded.
By John Kamau
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