To guarantee the sustainability of youth-tailored programmes in Mombasa, the County government has put in place austerity measures to cut costs on unnecessary expenditures.
“Since we took the reins of power neither the Governor nor I have traveled abroad. We have repurposed the money allocated for the purchase of office furniture, travel and other recurrent expenditures for the Mombasa ni yangu programme,” said Deputy Governor and CECM for Environment Francis Thoya when he met beneficiaries of the programme.
“But part of the sustainability is that we try to check which government projects bring money so that we can maximize the collection of revenue to assist more youth-tailored programmes,” he added.
Mombasa County government has extended the Mombasa ni Yangu Programme for two months in a bid to curb crime and drug abuse among youth in the coastal city.
The Deputy Governor said more than 2000 youth from all the wards were enlisted in the programme when it started in December to clean Mombasa streets.
Thoya said engaging the youth in employment will reduce idleness and will make the tourist city clean.
“I am delighted that we are starting phase three of the Mombasa ni Yangu programme, phase one was in December, we came to the second phase, and now we have started the third phase of this programme,” said the DG Thoya, adding that the youths have an opportunity to eke a living.
He added, “All these efforts have only one goal to get our young people off the streets and make sure that they get jobs thus getting rid of crime. If young people are idle without work, they slide into crime and drug abuse.”
By Sadik Hassan
