PRE-AU-EU YOUTH SUMMIT FOR VIHIGA COUNTY

VENUE:  BLUE STAR HOTEL

DATE:     7^TH NOVEMBER 2017

EVENT:   PRE-AU-EU YOUTH SUMMIT FOR VIHIGA COUNTY

The aggression among the Vihiga youth was just what the AYP-AYICC team needed to jumpstart the youth consultations in the country. It could be agreed from the high turnout of energetic youth that Vihiga was a great choice. Since tit for tat is a fair game it was only fair that the team give the mic to the virulent Mr. Evans Gichaga who stirred up the conversation on how this group of young people could work together to create the much-needed change in their own society. His catalytic skills got the youth deliberating how they could tap into innovation and creativity for their own financial benefit and means to instigate change in the society.

After this briefing discussion to keep the audience at par with why they were here, it was only protocol that the team explained who they were and why they had come to talk about the matter at hand. And who better else to do so than the fierce Gladys Njeri. Fierce because it takes courage to be a woman in a room filled with major guys and still be able to boldly deliver to such an audience without fear nor intimidation. Talk about the gender agenda!  When she talked about the achievements of AYICC and AYP one would compare her with the former First lady of the United States Mitchel Obama. Who would deny this as we were just in the neighborhood of the homeland of the former president of the USA Barack Obama. This was not even the best part. When She went go ahead to explain the goals and targets that AYP and AYICC had in relation to their past achievements one would think that the blueprints of these organizations were written in her head. Talk about focus! Talk about ambition! Talk about a woman without limits!

In as much as we hated to see her leave we had to shift our attention from the girl child to the boy child and this would see a powerful team of panelist march in. the team consisted of  Mr. Patrick Adaka,  Mr. Clifford Okwany, Mr. Evans Gichaga and Mr. Silas Lungorane.

First on the floor was the vibrant Mr. Adaka who would take the lead when it came matters of unemployment. He went ahead to give his touching story of how after school he was not lucky to find a job but he ended up volunteering with an NGO from which he learned how to interact with people from different walks of life and also contributed to his personal growth. This was with the intention of shifting the minds of young people from becoming job seekers and job hunting to focusing on how they could grow as young peoples and be creative enough to create for themselves employment. His session could not come to an end before he urged the young people who were present to say no to the intergenerational disease of corruption.

 Mr. Lungorane was next on stage to help the young people deliberate on the issue of education and skill development seeing that it went hand in hand with the previously addressed topic of unemployment. He emphasized on the need for economic empowerment through gender mainstreaming and civic education putting into consideration that it is only a community that is equipped with the right education and with full participation of all members of the society irrespective of gender that stood the chance of reaching its uttermost limits. He would go ahead to encourage the youths of Vihiga to make use of the already existing SACCOs and come up with new ones as a way of bettering themselves especially in the line of agriculture and conservation of the environment.

The mic had to be passed down to the academician among the panelist who happened to be a lecturer at Rongo University, the University of Nairobi and a consultant at the Catholic University. Who else rather than the one Mr. Okwany who would take the youths back to his political science class and help them deliberate on the issue of peace and security. Among the key points, he managed to bring out was the need for youth involvement in the budget-making to ensure that they do not feel left out and also to ensure that during times of unrest they felt part and parcel of the investments made in the area, therefore, resist the urge to destroy such property. The youths were urged to know how to manage themselves financially in case they get a big break so that they try to at least secure their future.  This is because it was deliberated that lack of financial well-being could be a contributor to lack of peace in the country. The youths were urged to get the relevant important information that they could use for their personal and economic growth.

Of course, the panel discussion could not come to an end before the youth had a chance to deliberate on political issues that affect them such as governance and democratic inclusion. It was only vital that we save the best for last seeing that the country had just come from a general election and this was one of the areas in the country with a bone of contention when it came to matters of democratic inclusion. Who better else to help the youths slay this dragon than the one and only Mr. Gichaga who put forward the need to set up functioning institutions and the need for policy implementation. It was agreed that there was the need for youth participation and contribution in the CIDPs if the county was to realize his dream and if the dream of devolution were to become a reality. It was put forth that this was not a one-man job and all relevant stakeholders including children had to be part and parcel of this boat.

The Vihiga youth had been given a lot to swallow and it was only in the place that the team put them in groups with each other in order to ponder more on what they had been given and come up with brainstorming ideas on the way forward. Talk about intense! This exercise would be bear fruits as by the time the audience got back to the main session, they had given the team quite a lot to take to Abidjan. It was clear, the youth knew what they wanted to be discussed at Abidjan. 

Let the team know your opinions on this issue on twitter #investinyouth254 @AYPKenya @ayicckenya @350_kenya @AUEUsummit.

Lets document youth affairs in Kenya

Visit the website at: https://aypkenya.wixsite.com/youth

Written and compiled by Dolphine Magero and Paul Mutuku