the way to go and nothing moves without having the blessing of the political leadership. This is consistent with what obtains in the informal economy where people generally have to be connected to someone in high places to access benefits. This is commonly referred to as madhiri (deals). Figure 1 interfere Ok to approach politicians 2.9 2.3 Adults value this kind of group 3.9 3.6 Council should support a group like this 3 2.8 Know how to approach local authority 2.8 2.6 From the FGDs, accessing resources such as project financing was linked to membership of the ruling party and those young people who were active were considered ahead of anyone else. Because of an envisaged gain, attendance to ruling party meetings was viewed as a matter of economic gain. The paradox however, is that the very same respondents are of the view that politics should not interfere. Have you ever contributed to a discussion 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 sometimes Often Rarely Male The initiatives by youth to create employment for themselves are being valued by adults in the community. This is viewed from the perspective that the older generation see young people as ‗hopeless‖ and would prefer this than seeing young people spending time prostituting or drinking illicit beer. Even though these ventures are being supported by the adult population, they have created headaches for city fathers and a mess of urban town planning. They have become commonly referred to as mushika-shika, depicting a Never N/A Female Figure 2. Sources of livelihood Male 57.5 55 47.5 45 42.5 30 47.5 25 12.5 12.5 0 0 0 2.5 15