The Information, Communications and Technology Principal Secretary (PS), Jerome Ochieng has challenged youth engaged in Kazi Mtaani programme to make savings and start income generating activities.
Jerome told the youth that they now have an opportunity to initiate income generating activities to help them as a side activity and stop relying on only one source.
Speaking on Tuesday at Otonglo in Kisumu West Sub County, Kisumu County during the launch of phase two of Kazi Mtaani Programme, the PS asked the youth to form strong groups and approach the Youth Enterprise Development Fund and get funding to engage in viable income-generating projects.
“You now have a chance to form groups or Sacco’s and come up with a business idea to approach Youth Enterprise Development Fund (YDEF) to get resources and start bigger projects,” he added.
The YDEF was initiated to ensure that a specific portion of Government annual revenue is devolved to constituencies for the purpose of development and growth of enterprise among youth at constituency level.
The PS said the government has extended the Kazi Mtaani programme to cover the entire country and 283,000 youth are going to be engaged for the next six and a half months to earn an income to help mitigate against the effects of Covid-19.
“The government has allocated 10 billion shillings as wages for workers and increased the number of youth from the initial 26,000 under a pilot programme to 283,000 in order to ensure a greater number are covered,” he added.
In Kisumu County, Jerome said 7,500 youth have been recruited into the programme, up from 2,300 who participated in phase one of the programme in the last two months.
The PS, who was accompanied by the Kisumu Governor, Prof. Peter Anyang Nyong’o, his Deputy, Dr. Mathews Owili, the Kisumu West MP Olago Aluoch and other National government officials hailed the good working relations between the two levels of government.
Jerome said Covid-19 pandemic has hit the entire world and warned the youth against taking the disease for granted.
Local leaders and the youth have hailed President Uhuru Kenyatta for initiating the programme, saying youth are able to put food on the table and meet their various obligations.
By George Kaiga
