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"id": 189918,
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"speaker_name": "Mr. Konchella",
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"legal_name": "Gideon Sitelu Konchella",
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"content": "Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity to also contribute to this very important Motion. First, I would like to congratulate the Minister and her very able team for articulating the youth affairs and problems in the country. Members are not raising many issues because they believe and know that the team is very efficient and able. It is a team that has made Kenya proud. This is the direction Kenya should go. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to point out a few problems here and there, particularly in my own constituency. One is the issue of disbursement. I know that some of these monies have been going to constituencies, including mine. But because of lack of banks to disburse this money, youths in my constituency, have to travel either to Kisii, Kericho or other places to seek services from the banks that are disbursing the funds. I do not know if the Ministry can help some of those districts which are very remote and are not serviced by banks, so that the youths do not have to spend money to travel to other places like Narok to fill in forms for their loans. Of course, when they go there, they are not able to access the services as quickly as possible. So, this is one of the problems that we know. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the issue of the YEDF is so important to this nation. 1788 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES July 10, 2008 The hon. Member who has just spoken said that the youth of this country form 70 per cent of the population of Kenya. Given that percentage of the youth in this country, there is concern about how we are going to manage them. How we manage them will determine the way this country will develop in future. This is because 70 per cent of the population is such a critical mark and so our youth need to be properly managed for this country to develop. With regard to the problems facing the youth, majority of us here are parents, and when our children are in school, we are okay because somebody is taking care of them. When they are employed after school, they are okay because they are earning a living and they can manage themselves. The problem is this group that is at home. They are neither in school nor in training colleges. These children quarrel with their parents and even steal money from them. They take drugs because they do not have much to do. They also go to discos and, generally, mess up with their lives. This is where the problem lies. These are our potential employees tomorrow and managers of our economy. Therefore, this is a very critical area that we must target as a nation. The Mungiki and all other youth groups that are causing problems in this country exist basically because those youths have nothing else to do and they are trying to make a living by doing wrong which they believe is good. So, to address some of these issues, the YEDF was set up. Yes, it can assist, but it is likely to assist only those ones who are already trained in polytechnics. They are the ones who can start small entrepreneurships. Not all the youth have the opportunity to benefit from the YEDF. I request the Minister to bring another two other items in the Budget for the next financial year for this House to consider. Hopefully, the Minister for Finance will take seriously what we say in this House. This is because it is a serious matter that our youth comprise 70 per cent of our population. So the youth must be managed, protected and supported. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we should have a Youth Skills Development Fund. I know that the YEDF money is being disbursed, but that Fund should be managed as a resource centre. Every constituency should establish a youth resource centre. In fact, I am spending part of my CDF money, this financial year, to construct a Youth Development Centre. This is because if I wait for others to do so, we might never get this thing going. It is, indeed, a serious problem. So, what we need is a Youth Skills Development Fund. This will target at training the youth at the constituency level to enable them acquire various skills, especially ICT. Information Technology is now advanced in this nation and so we should prepare our youth to train from the centres in their constituencies so that they do not all flock to Nairobi. They should be able to learn and do jobs in their respective constituencies. We should also think of the Youths Sports Development Fund. Indeed, I am also allocating money from my own CDF to develop a sports complex in my area. We have already got four acres of land on which we shall develop the sports complex and we would like the Ministry to support us. Once you have a stadium in a place like Kilgoris, which is good for the training of athletes--- A lot of them are now making it to the Olympics because of training on the terrain such as the one in Kilgoris. These are very good things for us to develop as a nation. We need to allocate more funds to this Ministry so that it can take care of this big population of the youth, who can actually be a problem, but also a potential group to target if we really want to develop this country. The Government needs to channel funds towards the development of our youth. This is actually a problem that lies with the Minister for Finance. For this country to be able to employ all our youth, who are actually the engine of development, we must channel our resources to areas which will create employment for our youth. Here, I am talking about infrastructure. We have a lot to develop in this country. It is not only our road network, but other infrastructure in the ASAL areas. These are the areas where funds need to be channelled. The marginalised areas in this country have the potential to develop just like the ones that are already developed. We have hardly, as a nation, utilised the potential that we have. We do not have resources July 10, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 1789 in terms of oil or minerals, but we are able to provide services to our people and Africa at large. We can enhance this by training our youth and encourage them to go and look for jobs in various areas. As you travel in countries in Africa, you will meet Kenyans everywhere. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, another very important item I would like this Ministry to look at is the issue of carrying out a census. We just talk about the youth being 70 per cent of our population, but do we really go where they are? Some may be trained, but they have no jobs. Some may drop out from training even though they have the potential. So, I would wish that the Ministry carries out a national census to ensure that we know the whereabouts of our youth. We need to know what they are doing. If they are at home, we need to ask ourselves how best we can channel resources to them. It is okay to allocate money to every district, but there are areas where there are a lot of youth and the poverty index is so high. We need to channel more resources to such areas so that we can uplift the livelihoods of these people. So, this is an area I would like to request the Ministry to attend to. Perhaps, they are already planning to do that, but it is important for us to have a national census and identify all our youth. We need to know what our youth are doing. We need to tackle the problems facing our youth because they are the future of Kenya. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, in terms of sports, we have a lot youth athletes training in Ngong and other areas. They are trying to qualify for the Olympics. Some of these young people have the potential, but lack the resources. I know that some of them have had to relocate to other countries so that they can run competitively. When I was a Minister last year, I prepared a Motion that would seek to ensure that Kenyans who relocate to other countries for athletics do not necessarily lose their Kenyan citizenship. They would not need to use other people's passports just for them to gain access to those countries. The Motion was to enable the youth to train and compete in other countries, but still come back home. That would have done away with the embarrassment that some of them go through when they come back and they are viewed as aliens. We even forget that they bring back money to this country. They create an awareness about Kenya in those countries they go. This particular area of sports is one of the best in terms of selling Kenya abroad. The Ministry of Tourism should also promote Kenya by targeting sportsmen. With those few remarks, I beg to support."
}