Youth and talent development stakeholders from Kirinyaga County have conducted talent searches in Kirinyaga County.
Speaking during the Njuki-ini Ward talent search finals at Gachatha Primary School, James Bundi, one of the organizers, said they had gone round the villages and identified many talents among the youth.
However, Bundi said lack of proper scouting programs had led to a waste of talents.
“Our main activity is to nurture talents among the people, whether youths, or the elderly. If you have talent, we will not leave you behind. We will also connect those identified, with others who have been in the industry to guide them.
We are going to mobilize different stakeholders by planning more talent searches in our villages, and by doing this, we will get more of these talents. It is my hope that we will have to set up a Njuki-Ini ward talent development center so that the talents in the area will not go into waste,” he said.
This comes against claims by the local youth that many talents were getting wasted due to a lack of support and failure by the government to set up a state-of-the-art facility, where they could harness their talents.
Peter Kathanga, an opinion leader from Gichugu constituency, says that the scouting of talents should start from the grassroots to ensure that those with talents get the required support to develop them.
Kathanga has challenged political leaders to push for the establishment of a talent academy as a way of ensuring the youth employment, thus cushioning them them from indulging in alcoholism and drug and abuse,
“Talent can offer many job opportunities to unemployed youth. It is my call to the national government and county governments to put more funds into talent development,” he said.
Youths who had turned up for the contest said such activities should continue, since they will open more doors for them. They also said lack of support had denied them opportunities for nurturing their talents.
James Lezlez, a local musician said they were forced to go to other counties like Embu and Nairobi to record their music due to a lack of quality studios, adding that setting up a talent academy will help them produce quality music within the county.
“Many times talent searches are conducted in major towns, making it difficult for youth from remote areas to access such events to showcase their talents,” he said.
However, Lezlez appreciated the Kirinyaga county government for organizing football tournaments across the county, but called for more interaction and support for other talents such as singing, acting, drawing, dancing, and modeling among others.
Judy Mwikali, a parent who had come to support her daughter, who is a dancer, appealed to other parents to fully support their children, who are gifted with various talents, adding that the Competence Based Curriculum will help in the development of talents among children from a tender age.
“I am appealing to NGOs to fund search for talents right from the remote areas. I would also like to invite the youth to use the digital space, where they can upload their content, which is a way of marketing someone,” said Mwikali.
During the function, the finalists were awarded various prizes to boost them during this festive season.
By David Wandeto
