Senators who are members of the Kenya Young Parliamentarians Association (KYPA) have called on their county assemblies’ counterparts to partner with them in their journey to establish youth caucuses for their respective assemblies.
Underscoring the place of the youth in the Kenyan political spectrum, Kericho Senator, Aaron Cheruiyot challenged the young legislators to develop a mechanism to mobilize and develop the youth vote.
This would make it more feasible to articulate and have matters of youth captured in the national psyche and discourse.
The Senate Deputy Minority Leader, Kakamega Senator Cleophas Malala said when young members join County Assemblies, most of them are not properly inducted in to their roles and responsibility.
Contrasting this with his experience in Parliament, he observed that, KYPA inducts members from the very onset and further forms an venue for the determination of their legislative mandate.
Founder member and Nairobi Senator Johnson Sakaja gave a background on the formation of KYPA and the challenges thereof, saying during the 11th parliament, the caucus was able to push through several motions and legislations.
“KYPA during the first term was able to build bipartisan approaches and comradeship in the execution of their representation role. The organization would be extremely helpful in organizing a structure of such caucuses and to mobilize the youth vote, which has not been a reality despite their large numbers,” Sakaja said on Thursday.
The formation of the Youth Caucus was one of the resolutions of the 3rd Annual Legislative Summit in Mombasa.
The KYPA is currently developing a programme for personal development to ensure that legislators do not lose their vision or their brand when they join Parliament.