The National Construction Authority (NCA) has partnered with Community Roads Empowerment (CORE-Kenya), a non-governmental organisation rehabilitating access roads in Meru town, to train and empower young people to be future contractors in the construction industry.
The young people who are directors in their specific groups met in one of the hotels in Meru town, where they underwent a training session on NCA registration requirements, processes, and regulations.
According to Geroge Kaluma, an engineer at CORE, the training was meant to equip the directors with knowledge and skills that will enable them to register as small-scale contractors under NCA Category 8 and later on progress as they continue working and earning more income.
“Today we had 15 groups undergoing training by NCA, and they are afterwards expected to register with the body as agreed.”
“We are therefore expecting that in the coming few weeks we will get the status of the registration, but what we are sure of is that all the groups will do it smoothly now that they are already aware of the procedures and requirements,” said Mr. Kaluma.
By the end of June, which marks two years of existence in Meru, Mr. Kaluma added, CORE expects to have 35 registered groups, with 20 in the first year and 15 in the second year.
Engineer Antony Mwangi from NCA said they also took participants through the process of registration for skilled and unskilled workers, which the body does free of charge.
“We have already told them what they require for their registration, and we guarantee them of our support throughout the process in case they get stuck along the way,” said Mr. Mwangi.
He congratulated CORE for organising the young people in groups, adding that this way, they will attract more tenders considering that they also have women as well as people with disabilities as their members.
“When they are registered, they become official members of NCA, and they are recognised by the government, meaning they can easily get tenders and work anywhere in the country as opposed to when they are just out there and working as individuals,” said Mr. Mwangi.
He thanked the CORE-Kenya, the Japan Social Development Fund (JSDF), the World Bank, the national government, and the county government of Meru for carrying out such an important initiative that will leave the young people with a source of livelihood.
“Without the efforts of all the partners in this project, all these people gathered here today, as well as those who are not here, might just be languishing out there. But what you are doing is commendable, and thank you for inviting us. I hope you will call us again to continue the good work,” said Mr. Antony.
Destiny Group Director, Mr. Duncan Murithi Marete, said the invaluable insights from NCA were an eye-opener for them, and they will henceforth use them for their own benefit.
“We are happy that today we know the requirements for registration from the horse’s mouth, and we will definitely play our part in ensuring that we are fully registered,” said Mr. Marete, adding that they will forward the information to their group members for action.
The directors are part of the 375 people in Gitimbine who underwent hands-on training on road rehabilitation for the second year, where eight kilometres of access roads were rehabilitated.
CORE’s main objective in Meru is to boost the status of Meru youth through the creation of job opportunities as well as skills development for self-reliance.
By Dickson Mwiti
