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{
"id": 199448,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/199448/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Prof. Mango",
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"speaker": {
"id": 288,
"legal_name": "Christine Mango",
"slug": "christine-mango"
},
"content": "Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity to contribute to this youth policy. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I notice that out of all the population of Kenya, 9.1 million are the youth. That is a major resource for our nation. There are countries which have developed into First October 17, 2007 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 4601 World countries through the development of their human resource. We have a resource which can help this country to move on. We can move on by developing our youth to be technologically empowered. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, while we are developing free primary education and going on to provide free secondary education, we should add on free university education. The Ministry of Youth Affairs should work together with the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Labour and Human Resource Development. At the end of any schooling, there should be courses in entrepreneurship and technology to empower our youth with skills. At the end of university education, students graduate and they have no practical experience. Therefore, they cannot compete in the job market. Any jobs that are being advertised are asking for experience. The students have no experience. Therefore, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Ministry of Youth Affairs is a very noble idea. It should craft the resources to develop the skills among our youth, be they primary or secondary school drop-outs or college graduates. That way, they will be empowered to participate in nation building, instead of roaming around in the streets, jobless. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, another area where we need to develop our youth is through sports. If all our schools had rigorous sports training courses, some of our youths would develop their skills in sports. You have seen Kenyans who go elsewhere and get proper coaching earn their living by using their legs in athletics, playing football or whatever. We have neglected that aspect. This is the time to factor it in our youth development, so that we can develop the youth both intellectually as well as physically, to take on the challenges in sports. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, we need to keep our youth occupied, so that they do not fall into vices like chang'aa drinking, drug abuse, prostitution and other negative activities that eventually lead them to nowhere. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, when you talk about HIV/AIDS, 75 per cent of the people infected are youths. That means that those youths are condemned to death unless we put them on Anti-Retroviral Drugs (ARVs). That is wasting our human resource. Therefore, the Ministry of Youth Affairs should work together with the Ministry of Education to develop a human resource as a production line, from primary school, secondary and up to the university level. They should acquire skills so that they can be gainfully employed. In so doing, we will not waste the human resource. We will have everybody contributing to nation building. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, it is very important to utilise the Youth Enterprise Development Fund properly. But if the youths have no skills, they will not benefit from that Fund. I have seen examples of youths who have got Kshs50,000. They think they will share out that money and that is the end of the story! But, on the other hand, if they have the skills, they will put that money into good use and progress from there. So, I congratulate the Minister of State for Youth Affairs. But I would like the Ministry to develop polytechnics and all the other technical colleges to empower our youth by giving them skills. With those few remarks, I beg to support."
}