Western Kenya National Youth Council have appealed to President Uhuru Kenyatta to establish a standalone youth ministry to spearhead agenda of young people in the country.
Chairman Kisumu chapter, Barnabas Odeny, said the youth have faced a myriad of challenges but their needs remain unmet.
Odeny said the youth played a pivotal role in ensuring that Jubilee was voted into power after Kenyatta campaigned on a platform that promised to salvage young people.
“The youth form almost 70 percent of the voting bloc. Jubilee was voted into office by the youth and we need recognition,” he said.
He said issues affecting young people in the country qualify for a distinct ministry to come up with a raft of ideas on how to pull out young people from poverty.
Addressing a press conference on Thursday in Kisumu after a meeting that brought together the youth council officials from Western Kenya region, Odeny said most of the youth programs that were initiated by the government have been run down.
He alleged that Uwezo Fund is being used as a political tool by politicians and majority of young people are being locked out. He noted that massive corruption that threatens the existence of such programs should be dealt with.
“Anti-corruption should move with speed and bring sanity in these youth programs that are riddled with corruption,” he said.
Odeny further asked the President to avail resources for the National Youth Council that has a constitutional mandate to coordinate and implement some of the youth programmes.