The women and youth empowerment Fund has attracted 4,330 women and youth groups in Turkana county.
The Deputy Director for Youth and Gender affairs Mollen Onderi has said all groups that had applied for this year’s disbursement of the Women and Youth Empowerment Fund loans will be vetted to determine compliance with the requirements before being categorized as eligible.
The empowerment Fund had attracted 4330 groups from all over the County led by Turkana North at 1439, Turkana West 1022, Turkana South at 483, Loima at 402 and Turkana East at 119.
Director Onderi said that the vetting exercise will be conducted in all wards by multisectoral teams consisting of Fund Board members, administrative officers and experts drawn from technical fields from which the applicants listed as their area of trade.
Onderi said the inclusion of the sub county, Ward and village Administrators was meant to introduce them as local assessors of the Fund and also make them own the vetting process as well as be providers of linkages services between the headquarters office and the field.
She further explained that the vetting team was divided into three groups for ease of covering the entire County in the shortest time possible.
On her part, the Fund Board chair Patricia Kebo said that the Fund was part of Governor Lomorukai efforts to avail resources for business startup and expansion to the women and youth led groups.
The chair explained that beneficiaries of the Fund also had the benefit of exposure to business growth training and capacity building in respect to use of groups for capital access.
In respect to the Youths, Patricia Kebo said that the funds were meant to open up a leeway for self-employment and expansion of entrepreneurship skills.
The chair encouraged past beneficiaries of the Fund to pay up all their dues as the funds was operating as a revolving fund with input of the Government during the establishment of seed money.
The teams are already done with Turkana North and West sub counties.
By Peter Gitonga
