Waiguru asked to name council boss

The National Youth Council has criticised Devolution Cabinet Secretary Anne Waiguru for failing to gazette their newly-appointed chairperson, two months after the appointment.

The youth Wednesday demonstrated outside Ms Waiguru’s office, seeking to have audience with the CS and demanding gazettement of Mr Dishon Atemo, who was seconded as the new chairperson.

“We met Ms Waiguru finally and she said she would consult the people concerned and by Friday (tomorrow), we will have a national chairman,” said Ms Juliana Olayo, an NYC delegate for Embakasi West.

Addressing a news conference in Nairobi afterwards, the youth representatives said should the CS fail to honour her word, they would organise a larger demonstration for all national delegates on Monday, June 8.

PROCUREMENT RULE

The representatives said that due to lack of a chairperson, one of the most affected projects was the 30 per cent procurement rule earmarked for youth and women.

Though the rule is popular, most youth do not know how to take advantage of it.

One of the functions of the council is to promote and popularise policies that affect the 16 million youth in the country.

The council has been operating without a chairman after the former board boss, Mr Clement Ayungo, resigned in mid-March.

Three days later, a meeting was convened and Mr Dishon Atemo was seconded as the new chairperson, pending his gazettement.

The youth also lamented that the ministry had diverted all its funds to the National Youth Service programme at the expense of other initiatives meant to benefit all youth in the country.

“NYS only recruits youth between 18 and 22 years, whereas majority of youth fall out of this group,” they said.