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{
"id": 177223,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/177223/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Kabando wa Kabando",
"speaker_title": "The Assistant Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports",
"speaker": {
"id": 31,
"legal_name": "Kabando wa Kabando",
"slug": "kabando-kabando"
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"content": " Mr. Speaker, Sir, I rise to make a very special request and invitation to all Members of Parliament to attend a retreat to be held on Friday, 5th December, 2008, from 9.00 a.m. to Saturday 6th December, 2008, at 1.00 p.m. The retreat is intended to address youth issues in the country. Mr. Speaker, Sir, in collaboration with UNICEF, the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports seeks to involve Members of Parliament and other stakeholders, to address issues of young people in this country. The youth in Kenya, who are aged between 15 years and 30 years, are over 14 million. They account for over 38 per cent of the population. Those below 35 years of age are over 75 per cent of our population. Whereas the young people form the majority of our population, they are generally pushed to the periphery of the country's political and socio-economic development processes. Indeed, it is no wonder that most of our youth are faced with very serious challenges, including a high rate of unemployment, high poverty levels, lack of technical and vocational training skills. Some involve themselves in vices like crime and drug abuse. Members of Parliament play a very key role in addressing issues of governance and, in this particular case, for the young people, who are the majority. It is because of this that this two-day 3754 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES December 2, 2008 retreat to be held on Friday and Saturday at the Kenya Institute of Administration (KIA), has been called. This retreat is going to address very serious issues, including the youth polytechnics, which have elicited a lot of questions in this House; the youth farming centres, the constituency effects of the Youth Enterprise Development Fund (YEDF), the National Youth Policy and the National Youth Council, the Community Soccer and Sports Bill that is pending, and youth recruitment into the National Youth Service (NYS). Further information on this matter is to be found in the pigeon holes of all hon. Members. I want to conclude with a reminder to all hon. Members that 60 per cent of the people who voted us to this House are the young people. They are the impatient, disfranchised and disadvantaged lot that needs to be encouraged and to be mainstreamed, so that they can have a greater confidence in the role of Members of Parliament. This is also a chance for Members of Parliament to participate in building consensus, so that we can make serious commitments that will put the youths in the centre-stage of the national development agenda. Therefore, we urge all Members of Parliament to find time and attend the retreat. We appreciate that Mr. Speaker has consented to this two-day retreat. It is long overdue. Therefore, I would like to urge you, my colleagues, to find time on Friday and Saturday to attend this retreat. There can never be any better time to have a retreat for Members of Parliament to deal with issues affecting the youths in this country than this time. This time is right. We appreciate the consent by Chair. We hope that hon. Members will come in big numbers. Thank you."
}