REMARKS BY MS.

ANNE WAIGURU, OGW, CABINET SECRETARY, MINISTRY OF DEVOLUTION AND PLANNING, DURING THE 7TH AIESEC EAST AFRICA PIONEERS CONGRESS AT THE MULTIMEDIA UNIVERSITY, MAGADI ROAD, OFF BOMAS OF KENYA ON 30TH SEPTEMBER, 2013
Cabinet Secretaries Present; Honourable Governor, Nairobi County; Honourable Members of Parliament and Senators; Chief of Staff and Head of the Public Service; Principal Secretaries and other Public Servants Present; Members of the Diplomatic Corps; Distinguished Guests; Ladies and Gentlemen; It gives me great pleasure and honour to join you this morning in this esteemed forum whose theme is, Engaging to Empower the East African Youth. I wish from the onset to commend the AIESEC East Africa Pioneers Congress for organizing this forum. Young people today and in the future, will be the principal stakeholders and beneficiaries of the Kenya Vision 2030, the governments long term development blue print, which is intended to help Kenya emerge as a prosperous nation offering opportunities for all, the youth included. Therefore, issues affecting young people should be fully integrated and harmonized into every aspect of public policy. My address will mainly focus on the role of government in regards to youth empowerment. It is worth noting that this meeting comes barely 3 weeks after the launch of the second Medium Term Plan of the Kenya Vision 2030, which outlines the main programmes and projects which our Jubilee Government has scheduled for implementation in all sectors of the economy. This meeting
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thus comes at an opportune time when our country is seeking partners to implement many of the projects outlined in the MTP 2013-2017. The government will in no doubt leverage forums like this to harness their expertise and mobilize the much needed human capital to realize its objectives. Ladies and Gentlemen; Am sure you know that the Youth, which are persons of ages 15 to 35 years, a category in which I believe most of you fall, constitute about 33 per cent of our countrys population. The youth form the bulk of our labour force and are very crucial in the generation of the much-needed economic growth. Whilst many challenges face young people, undoubtedly the most acute is the inability to access employment - the lack of opportunities to earn a decent and honest living. Among the unemployed, 67 per cent are youth and 92 per cent of these have no vocational or professional skills/training. It is this that drives young people into crime and drugs, and into a general state of hopelessness and despair. Personally, I consider this to be a major issue facing our country today. Aggravating this problem is the low education levels of majority of our youth and lack of skills. This poses a great challenge to the realization of aims of the Vision 2030 of availing productive and decent livelihood for young people. It is estimated that if 2 million unemployed young people could be given jobs, and produce at the average industrial output per worker, they would add more than Kshs 500 billion to our GDP. It is for this reason, Ladies and Gentlemen, that the government has prioritized the need to economically empower the youth and bring them on board in the countrys development agenda. To realize this, a number of programmes have been lined up to facilitate our young people. Among them is the Uwezo Fund. If you will recall, the Jubilee Coalition outlined its pre-election intention of utilizing the planned Kshs. 5.8 billion presidential election re-run budget to enhance support for the youth and women upon securing a first round win. Following its successful election, the
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government has delivered on this commitment, and allocated Kshs. 5.8 billion to the youth, women and persons with disabilities across the country to expand access to credit and provide start-up capital for their businesses and enterprises. The money has been allocated to the Ministry of Devolution and Planning, being the Ministry responsible for youth affairs, in the budget of the current 2013/14 Financial Year. Following its successful launch of the Fund at the University of Nairobi last month, the Ministry of Devolution and Planning will be rolling out a campaign to begin informing, mobilizing and establishing group structures to position the women, youth and persons with disabilities to take advantage of the promise. The campaign will be spearheaded by H.E. the President as lead champion. At the same time, capacity building exercise will be conducted in all the counties to ensure that all prospective business ventures are feasible and to equip the youth with the much needed business skills. To this end a consultant has been engaged to facilitate and coordinate the exercise. The onus is on you to take advantage of this opportunity to not only create employment for yourself, but also for others. Ladies and Gentlemen; In his state opening of the 11th Parliament, His Excellency the President stated that the government will present measures to review and amend the Public Procurement and Disposal Act of 2005 to establish a legal obligation on government to buy Kenyan first and create procurement quotas for youth and women. The President also stated that the government would amend its procurement procedures to allow the young men and women of Kenya to supply 30 per cent of all government contracts. In view of this, the government is implementing the Public Procurement Disposal (Preference and Reservations) Regulations. As a presidential directive every Ministry is expected to implement the 30 per cent minimum youth and women Affirmative Action for government tenders and the rate of implementation of the same constitutes part of the Ministrys performance assessment. In that regard, the Ministry of Devolution and
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Planning is mandated to mainstream gender and youth issues in all government projects and programs. It is working jointly with the National Treasury to mobilize youth and women to register for pre-qualification and hence take advantage of the 30 per cent preference and reservation provision. Indeed, in the 2013/14 Performance Contract, the Ministry has committed to sensitise women and youth entrepreneurs on the 30 per cent access to government procurement opportunities. Ladies and Gentlemen; The government is committed to creating an enabling environment for job creation by making Kenyan companies more efficient. This will be achieved through provision of appropriate physical infrastructure such as roads, railways, telephones, financial services and Internet access. The improvement of these services will facilitate marketing, reduce losses and delays, and in the medium term, reduce costs to the companies. In addition to these services, the government is dedicated to improving security for all sectors so as to minimize crime, ensure an efficient judicial system and continue its policy of zero-tolerance to corruption. Ladies and Gentlemen; Over the past five years, the Government has worked closely with the private sector to streamline laws and regulations that made it difficult to do business in Kenya. Having achieved this important milestone, we must continue to work together to safeguard the gains we have made in streamlining the licensing and regulatory regime. Moreover, it is recognized that investment in human capital through education and training is crucial for employment. In this regard the Government has developed policies that promote strong links between educational training institutions and employment opportunities in the market. Ladies and Gentlemen;
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Before I conclude, I want to reiterate that as we move forward to build a globally competitive and prosperous nation with a high quality of life, the government will continue to count on you. On its part, the Government will continue to implement the required economic and structural reforms to sustain an enabling environment in which Kenyans can continue to unlock their potential and enhance economic productivity. This is achievable through close partnership between the government and all other players in the economy. Indeed, the spirit of cooperation and collaboration amongst all sectors of our society is critical to the realization of stronger and sustainable economic expansion. In conclusion, Ladies and Gentlemen, I wish to challenge the youth to uphold positive values in the society. The frequent and often violent and destructive behaviour that we have witnessed recently in our institutions of learning and other organisations must stop. The Youth need to know that this is not good for the country as it scares away potential investors and thus limiting employment opportunities. As role models for the younger generation, I urge you to uphold the values of moral integrity since the future of this nation lies in your hands. With these remarks, distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, it is now my great pleasure to welcome His Excellency the President, to address this distinguished Forum.

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