President Uhuru Kenyatta has assured that young people, women and people with disabilities who have supplied goods and services to the government will be paid.
Speaking on Friday when he presided over the graduation of over 2200 youths who participated in two youth employment programs, President Kenyatta reaffirmed the Government’s support to enable the youth realise their full potential.
“Just yesterday, the Cabinet prioritised payments to young people, women, and youth with disabilities. That’s because we honour the response of young people to the opportunity we offered,” President Kenyatta said.
The two youth empowerment programs, Tujiajiri by Kenya Commercial Bank and Generation Kenya by McKinsey & Company, are geared towards creating jobs for the youth in the country.
President Kenyatta encouraged the youth to make use of available opportunities to improve their welfare and contribute to nation building.
He cited the example of David Mutiso who had just graduated in the 1960s when he was commissioned to design the Kenya International Conference Centre that was opened in 1973.
“Is there one among you today who will do something that we will remember in fifty years?,” President Kenyatta asked the youth.
Saying he believed in the patriotism, energy and intelligence of the youth, President Kenyatta said he valued their contribution in nation building.
“You are my partners in remaking Kenya – and my Government’s programmes reflect my faith in you,” he said.
President Kenyatta welcomed the two empowerment programs, saying as the Government opens up opportunities for the youth to do business, it is also preparing them for the world of work.
President Kenyatta also challenged the private sector to transform the youth from beneficiaries to benefactors through programs like Tujiajiri and Generation Kenya.
“It is time you did more to teach our children the skills they need to make the most of their gifts; and more to support the educators who work so hard to educate the young Kenyans who will come to work for you,” the President said.
He said that was why the Government has dedicated itself to reforming schools and colleges right across the country.
To match skills and the opportunities open to the youth, President Kenyatta said the Government is reforming technical training institutions.
He said the Government has also set aside Sh500 million for loans and bursaries for students joining training institutions and whose parents may be financially constrained.
The President disclosed that 70 TVET colleges are under construction, adding that once the colleges are complete they will double the country’s capacity to handle over 100,000 students.
President Kenyatta said the Government is also working on new models of funding, saying the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) is trying out sector-specific funds in technical and vocational colleges.
“One encouraging example is the Afta Elimu Fund funded by USAID and the private sector. Its aim is to educate the nurses, and the medical staff who will run our medical colleges,” President Kenyatta said.
The Afta Elimu Fund has already disbursed over KSh 500 million, to slightly under 10,000 students.
Public Service, Youth and Gender Affairs Cabinet Secretary Sicily Kariuki urged the youth who benefitted from the two empowerment programs to be agents of positive change and role models to their compatriots.
Education Science and Technology Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i said he will remain firm and forthright in ensuring that things are done in right way in the education sector.