Young people have been advised to pursue leadership positions in national and county governments to propel themselves to active engagement in the country’s leadership.
Speaking on Tuesday at Kiambu Sub-County community hall during the 52nd annual general meeting of the Central Young Men Christian Association (YMCA), Transition Authority Chairman Kinuthia Wamwangi, said this can be achieved by establishing linkages between county assemblies and county executive committees as well as parliament to advance the youth agenda.
He said youth also need to take part in citizen participation forums where they can advance and entrench their cause on matters pertaining to the youth during the ongoing transition to devolved governance.
Wamwangi said cross-country and cross-ethnic cooperation and collaborations among the youth need to be fostered and developed to strengthen their input on leadership in various institutions.
He noted that YMCA-Kenya has been empowering young people and continues to do so through its focus on 'the African Renaissance which is primarily driven by the youth.
He hailed YMCA for being instrumental in guiding this process by providing a platform for positive change in the way the youth influence and accelerate change in Kenya.
“There is also a need to create youth friendly policies that encourage youth inclusion, strengthen youth employments and ensure that a quota of tenders is reserved for youth entrepreneurship,” said Wamwangi.
He particularly appealed to the YMCA to continue securing the future of the youth by empowering them to be self-sufficient through teamwork and co-operatives movements.
The chairman said there was need to re-engineer Technical and Vocational Educational Training (TVET), revive youth polytechnics and harness youth talent by increasing resource allocation and facilitating them to form self-help groups and other collaborative structures.
He added that main streaming youth in national development can only work well if generous devolved funds were allocated for youth developments in county budgeting process.
“The youth must also be involved in devolved structures. There should also be adequate outreach to the youth using appropriate forums and the social media to ensure that there is sufficient inclusiveness,"he added.