Forever young at 50
18 October 2006
Last Updated on 02 June 2010
Written by MazAlien
f you believe you are only as young as you feel, maybe you should be living in Kenya. A government minister has proposed changing the legal definition of youth to anyone aged from 15 to 50 – a two-decade jump from the current ceiling of 30 years. If passed by Parliament, that would put youths within five years of Kenya’s official retirement age of 55. Youth Affairs Minister Muhammad Kuti was quoted in local media as saying the Government plans to change the law so more people can access a 1 billion shilling ($18.87 million)) youth fund established this year. The proposal has rankled some in the east African nation, where critics say the reform agenda of President Mwai Kibaki, 74, has stalled because he has filled his cabinet with members of his own age group, or “wazee” in Swahili. “That is utter nonsense,” auditor Catherine Kagweria said. “We need younger, more spry leaders to take over from these geriatrics.” Kuti could not be reached for comment. Kenya is one of the nine African countries hit hardest by the HIV/AIDS pandemic, and according to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS 2002), HIV prevalence among Kenyan 15M9-year-olds has reached 15 percent. Sexual activity is the major mode of HIV transmission in Kenya and accounts for approximately 80 percent of infections (Mulindi et al. 1998). Researchers have found that in addition to high levels of sexual activity, transitory sexual relationships, and insufficient rates of condom use, young Kenyans harbor misinformation about HIV / AIDS transmission, further increasing their risk of infection.
Source : NYT
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Loading ...I will have a look Susan... tnx for mention it....
If I go to the link you provided - http://www.mazalien.nl/ weblog/archives/ 2006/05/24/ build-your-own-alien/ then...
Comments
what an epoch making idea!! how nice of the govt. minister to realize that it’s kinda rude to call someone ‘old’! i’m sure, gradually, he’ll extend the age limit of ‘youthness’ upto 100 years. so everyone can be called young. how sweet!!! :smile2_ee:
one of my friends here is from botsowana. he says, it’s not that people aren’t aware of AIDS but the fact is, people are mostly careless. they know there is a danger looming, still wouldn’t bother using protective measure while having sex. this is really scary. if you pretend to sleep while you’re still awake….it’s impossible to actually wake you up.
‘pretend to be asleep’. please bear with my english.