Prseidnt Uhuru Kenyatta today (06/01/16) held a dialogue with youth from the Coast at Statehouse- Mombasa. Unlike political events where elected leaders purport to speak on behalf of the elected, the stakeholders got a chance to air their issues to the President. Among the issues given prominence during the occasion were establishment of talent academies, drug abuse among the youth, and inclusion of the youth in the national agenda.
Addressing the need for talent academies in the country,the president admitted that Kenya is blessed with immense sporting talent that should be nurtured for the good of the nation. He made reference to Javelin world champion Julius Yego who coached himself using YouTube on his way to world glory. He also directed leaders in each county to identify youths who were giving themselves selflessly to the be betterment of our society. These youth need to recognised among national heroes and would be feted during Mashujaa Day celebrations.
Generation after generation, youths have been told that they are the future leaders of tomorrow, with that ‘tomorrow’ never coming. However,the old age saying could become a thing of the past if the president makes good of his promise to initiate political and leadership mentorship to aspiring youth. He said he would under his wings the youth representative who made that suggestion during the event and urged other leaders to do the same.
The youth representatives suggested that economic empowerment for them would be better if business registration could be sped up by devolving it from the national offices to Huduma centers that are widespread in the country, and if funds such as Youth and Uwezo funds were readily available. Taita Taveta MP Dr. Naomi Shaban sought to clarify on the mentioned funds and said that most people didn’t have access to funds as their groups were blacklisted due to unpaid loans. She said that sensitization was needed not only on how to use the funds,but also on the importance of repaying such loans.
“We admit that enough is not being done when it comes to fighting drug abuse among the youth in our country. Arresting drug users while letting the dealers continue in the business does not solve our problem. We are going to focus more on wiping out the dealers while at the same time rehabitating our kids who are hooked on drugs,” Uhuru said when the topic of drug abuse came up.
