Beneficiaries of the Youth Enterprise Development Funds (YEDF) and Uwezo Funds in Kajiado County have been urged to repay their loans promptly, so that other groups can benefit from the Kitty.
County Director of Youth, Richard Momanyi revealed that many youth in the county were applying for loans but default on repayment despite being issued with several reminders.
Addressing the press in his office Thursday, the Youth officer revealed that repayment rate at the county was at only 30 per cent.
Momanyi emphasised that the YEDF are not grants but interest and security free loans and thus beneficiaries must honour their obligation by repaying the funds, so that other groups can also benefit.
He called on the beneficiaries to be disciplined by ensuring that they use the funds for the intended purpose and this will enable them repay without much difficulty.
“Many young people borrow funds but default on repayment. Youth must endeavor to repay the loans as the YEDF is a revolving fund and not a grant. By failing to repay the loans, you lock out other groups from accessing them,” said Momanyi.
He added that his office in conjunction with the local administrators will embark on tracing the defaulters next week, so as to prevail upon them to repay the funds.
The officer further revealed that training of youth on entrepreneurship was ongoing, so as to empower them on how to identify business opportunities, how to participate in government procurement through Access to Government Procurement Opportunities (AGPO), among others.
This will enable them put up sustainable income generating projects which will empower them economically thus improve their living standards.
‘We are training the youth on various fields such as entrepreneurship, group formation and registration among others, so that they can be empowered and take advantage of affirmative funds offered by the government,” he added.
Momanyi similarly urged the youth to be pro-active and visit their offices so as to learn of various government opportunities available to them. He noted that many youth are not aware of government funds like Uwezo funds, YEDF and Women enterprises funds, thus miss out on many opportunities aimed at empowering them economically.
By Rop Janet
