Deputy President Prof. Kithure Kindiki has called on Kenyans to remain peaceful and work closely with the government for better service delivery and the realisation of faster development.
Speaking during a women’s empowerment function at Busende Primary School in Matayos Sub-county in Busia, Kindiki said despite the country experiencing several challenges, unending protests, demonstrations and rioting can never be a solution.
“Every country has their own unique challenges, but the solution cannot be riots, property destruction and looting. Our country will only move forward if we come together and work towards building the nation,” he said.
The DP said the government has been undertaking several measures to help in handling the issue of unemployment in the country, adding that more programmes are going to be rolled out to tackle the issue.
“The Affordable Housing and market construction have employed over 320,000 people, who are working as plumbers, engineers, quantity surveyors, carpenters, and builders, among others. We want to double these numbers to 620,000 workers in the next six months to help our youth. We are also establishing ICT hubs in every ward and we already have about 200,000 youth who are already benefiting from the same,” he said.
Kindiki further said that the government is coming up with a kazi mashinani climate works programme, which is going to accommodate 200,000 young people who will help in tree planting and conserve the environment, as they get paid.
He also said that over 400,000 Kenyans have benefitted from the kazi majuu programme, securing jobs abroad with aid from the government.
The DP stated that the government has been addressing teachers’ shortage in schools by employing 76,000 teachers, adding that the number will rise to 100,000 by December as 24,000 more teachers will get another opportunity for jobs.
The prime Cabinet Secretary and Cabinet Secretary for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs, Musalia Mudavadi, called for respect for democracy, stating that the exercise of one’s freedom should not affect others.
“We are a country of democracy where the citizen rights are highly respected but we should not abuse others’ rights while observing ours. We cannot have demonstrations with destruction of property or denying others the opportunity to do their business. Let us ensure our exercise of rights doesn’t affect other people’s rights,” he said.
Mudavadi asked the leaders to be careful over their utterances and avoid issuing inflammatory remarks that can raise political temperatures, particularly as regards elections.
“We now have the operational IEBC which is mandated to ensure it conducts a credible and transparent election. We have seen some leaders who are giving reckless sentiments on stealing elections. This is selling a negative narrative to Kenyans on IEBC which has promised Kenyans that it will deliver its mandate accordingly,” he said.
The Speaker of the National Assembly, Moses Wetang’ula, in his remarks called on leaders to support the President, urging people in the western region to unite for the sake of development.
“When you want to be a good leader, you have to support the existing leader so that you can learn and be nurtured. All leaders who are in senior positions were nurtured and they went through the process. That’s why we need to support the President as we learn from him. Let’s unite together as people from the western region, regardless of our tribe and status, so that we can work together with the government,” he said.
Busia County Woman Representative, Catherine Omanyo, urged the women to use empowerment support in building strong businesses and developing more beneficial projects.
“This is an opportunity for us as women to grow in our areas of development and business. The support we are giving out is not for food but is for you to increase your businesses, expand your projects and engage in more initiatives that will improve your lives,” she said.
By Salome Alwanda and Rodgers Omondi
