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"content": "force or they are not waiting to join the universities or they are not waiting for something else that is more formal than the Jua Kali sector. This money is basically meant for those who do not intend to join the formal sector. When you give money to a young person who is straight from school - I stand to be corrected â whose mind is more focused on formal employment, she or he would not concentrate on that line of business. If the Ministry handles this issue from that perspective, I am sure that we will reduce the number of defaulters and we will also get more committed youths. It would definitely be better. I can also give myself as an example. Before I joined the Jua Kali sector, I wasted a whole year; I am talking about 15 years ago, searching for a white collar job. I would say no to those who were encouraging me to go into the informal sector. That full year, which I wasted, as much as things worked out well later, I wish I had joined the Jua Kali sector earlier. However, I was convinced that the formal sector was where I belonged. I believe that I was not alone. There are many who are still in that group. Worst of all, when there is economic turbulence; you expect the youth to feel shy from joining business. When they hear that there are other youths earning Kshs50,000, they do not think about how they can earn that money in the informal sector. It is good for us to be clear on who we are targeting otherwise, we will lose track. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, the issue of age limit is very important. The Ministry has been sticking to 30. However, a person of 35 years, for all intents and purposes, is a youth. It is good for us to include those young men who are 35 years and below in the age group of the youths. It is realistic that a person of 35 years--- Actually many of them are not even married. They are shying away from having families because they do not have anything to feed their families with. They are relying on their parents. It is good for us to realize that a person of 35 years is still young enough to be considered a youth. By extension, it is important for us to realize that even those who are past age 35 and maybe, slightly above that, have been in the informal sector. You can see how committed they are. They have been with the youth groups. They have been advanced money and it is not good to let them go like a baby who has stopped sucking, yet their teeth are not strong enough to eat maize. This is somebody who has just graduated from being a youth. If somebody has just moved out of the youth bracket and he or she has consistently been performing well while in the youth bracket, it is good for us to allow that person to continue until he or she becomes stable to operate independently. There are many activities which are carried out by the youth such as promotion. We have seen some of them dancing on platforms promoting Omo, among other consumer goods. We always find the youth on the stage and yet the contracts are always awarded to people who are old enough to be their parents. It is good for the Ministry to see how it can lobby, more than it is doing now, with those big companies which carry out promotions so that the youth groups are awarded contracts to do those promotions so that they can earn a decent amount of money. When they are recruited by those who win those contracts, they are paid peanuts. They will never get out of that vicious cycle and it is only fair that the Ministry lobbies through the sister Ministries which license those companies to carry out those promotions and related activities. I believe that is something that can be achieved by the Ministry if it is keen."
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