PHOTO | FILE National Youth Council spokesman Mr Arnold Maliba. NATION MEDIA GROUP
By NATION REPORTER AND CORRESPONDENT
Posted Sunday, April 7 2013 at 23:30
Posted Sunday, April 7 2013 at 23:30
A lobby group on Sunday urged the Jubilee government to use Sh6 billion initially allocated for presidential run-off to boost the youth fund.
National Youth Council chairman Clement Odero said President-elect Uhuru Kenyatta’s promise of one million jobs per year would be faster achieved if his government channelled the funds to the youths in form of grants.
“The Jubilee government should jumpstart their promise of more employment opportunities by giving Sh6 billion that would have gone to a run-off to youths in form of grants,” he said in Nairobi.
The Treasury had set aside the money to fund a run-off in case there was no clear winner in the March 4 elections.
“He ascended to power riding on youths’ backs and it is time he paid back now end,” Mr Odero said.
During the campaigns, Mr Kenyatta promised to advance soft loans to the youth and women to help them start businesses.
Mr Arnold Maliba, the council’s spokesman, asked Mr Kenyatta to allocate more slots to the youth when naming his government.
“Having campaigned on a platform of generational change, we do not expect Mr Kenyatta to recycle the old leadership that has been around for so long. There are many qualified youths out there he can pick from,” he said.
At the same time, the Youth Enterprise Development Fund on Sunday asked for more loan applications as it had more money to give out. The fund’s chairman Evans Semelang’o said youths were yet to fully benefit from the billions of shillings allocated by the Treasury.
“We have embarked on removing bottlenecks that hinder the youth from accessing the loans,” Mr Semelang’o said.
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