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| Dr. Mohamed Abdi Kuti-Isiolo County Governor |
Youth unemployment has been and is still a thorn in the flesh of county and national governments.
The rate of unemployment in Kenya stands above 40%. In Isiolo county, the statistics are even scarier as unemployment stands above 60%.
These are statistics that governor Kuti wishes to tackle with utmost urgency as the health sector which was one of his priority areas has been rehabilitated thoroughly.
This is HOW-
A few months ago, Isiolo County Government signed an MoU with Kenya School of Government and United Nations Development Program(UNDP) whereby UNDP will fund youth drawn from various wards in Isiolo to receive vocational training at the KSG.
The youth shall be armed with various skills and equipped with necessary skills to start,run and manage a business venture.
Those who excel and manage to finish the short courses shall be provided with a special capital to start their own businesses and flourish.
The first batch of 50 students were flagged off for the exercise by Governor Kuti where they underwent intense training for two weeks and came back successfully.
When we sought to know why the first batch haven't been awarded with the promised capital, sources close to the governor informed us that they are yet to pass a bill in the assembly to set aside a special fund for the youth to borrow from. The source says that shall be Governor Kuti's number one priority once the county resumes business after the festivities.
Isiolo Youth Sasa Summit(IYSS)
Following the success achieved in the piloting stage, the county government has broadened the scope of their reach where 10000(ten thousand) youth will be drawn from all the wards in Isiolo county and trained by the KSG personnel. In the program, a thousand(1000) youths shall be drawn from all the wards. The program dubbed Isiolo Youth Sasa Summit(IYSS) shall take place in February of 2019 if all goes as planned.
Governor Kuti had earlier on emphasized to the youth that
the secret to success lies in self employment and promised to facilitate youth with viable business ideas with capital saying the County government which is itself facing wage bill issues has no ability to absorb all the unemployed youth.
A youth we had spoken to however said the county should be open in its operation saying most youth aren't even aware such a program is in motion. He further said should the County government stick to its word and deliver their promise on the training and capital providence, it shall be a fresh start for the youth of Isiolo County. He further said that such a program could be the blueprint needed to inject a fresh blood into the Isiolo county economy as people especially the youth shall be having money in their pockets and the county government will benefit in the cess collection from such businesses.
ICBN shall be keeping you up to date once this process kicks off in earnest next year but till then...
#KeepItICBN
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