A section of youth group leaders in Nakuru town are up in arms saying local leaders favour women for development funds while neglecting the youths.
The Mawanga Youth Agenda (MYA) official led by the chairman Antony Waweru, and flanked by the organising secretary James Mutinda, said youth in the area were not happy by the turn of events involving development projects and youth empowerment plans by the government and local leaders.
The leaders spoke to this writer when they prepared to present a petition to the area Members of County Assembly offices and the Constituency Development Fund Committee over what they termed as neglect of local youth.
The officials were reacting to a recent demonstration by tens of unemployed youth demanding to be assigned work at a local development project being sponsored by CDF after a proposal for a market construction was prepared by a local women’s group that is set to manage the market project.
The demonstration that the lobby group organised was against employing people from outside the area. The lobby also says recently the area Member of Parliament David Gikaria initiated and sponsored a sanitation project involving local women in cleaning streets in the constituency estates and urban centres but ignored the youths.
“The youth are not amused at all. We will make sure local leaders live to their promises and expectations. Where are our youth in all this that is happening? We will even seek the intervention of the governor,” said the chairman.
He added that his lobby would consider mobilising a major demonstration by local youth to catch the attention of the central government if their plight is not addressed by the local leaders and government.