Kibaki unveils plan on more jobs for youth

President Kibaki Tuesday called for more private, public partnerships to create jobs for the growing youth numbers.

The President said formal employment remained beyond the reach of many youths due to their sheer numbers.

At least 750,000 youths join the job market annually, far much more than the country’s labour market can absorb.

President Kibaki, who spoke at the launch of the Kenya Youth Empowerment and Employment Summit in Nairobi, said: “We as government acknowledge that the formal sector does not have the capacity to create the required jobs.”

Statistics show there are about 14 million youths between 14 and 30 years, which is more than 36 per cent of the country’s population.
This number is expected to rise to 17 million in 2012 and 24 million in 2017.

The President listed what the government had done to empower the youth, including the creation of the Ministry of Youths and Sport, the Youth Enterprise Fund and Kazi kwa Vijana initiative.

Speaking at the same occasion, United States ambassador to Kenya Michael Ranneberger said the exclusion of youths in the country’s development was “a disaster in waiting”. He said that was why youths were involved in the post-poll violence. “Nearly 80 per cent of both perpetrators and victims of the violence were youths,” he said.