Chief of Staff and Head of Public Service, Felix Koskei, has urged the youth to take a leading role in shaping Kenya’s future by actively participating in policy-making, leadership and oversight of development programmes.
Koskei said young people should be at the centre of national conversations on the country’s long-term development agenda, urging them to come up with recommendations and proposals that reflect their aspirations.
“It is our responsibility as the youth. The young people should be the ones who will sit at the table and start having that conversation, bringing in recommendations and suggestions that will ensure that as we are going forward, we have a document, and we have a plan that will make this country better than where we found it,” he said.
He said increased youth participation in elective and appointive positions, as well as the private sector, was critical to ensuring that long-term development plans respond to the needs of the younger generation.
Koskei said the Government would soon facilitate youth engagements across the country to give young people an opportunity to articulate what they want Kenya to look like in the next 10, 20, and 30 years.
He urged the youth in Nandi and other parts of the country to participate in the forums and contribute ideas that could shape the country’s development priorities.
“Vijana, nafasi ni yenu, lazima muchangie kabisa,” he said, urging young people to seize the opportunity to influence decisions affecting theirfuture.
Koskei also challenged the youth to go beyond participating in the consultations and take part in overseeing the implementation of the resolutions and recommendations arising from the process.
He called on leaders and other stakeholders to support and encourage young people to take up leadership opportunities, saying their active involvement was essential to securing a better future for the country.
Koskei was speaking during a groundbreaking and foundation-stone-laying ceremony for the construction of a new cathedral at St. Peter’s Church Kapsabet early this week.
By Geoffrey Satia
