Bungoma County Commits to Create More Jobs for Youth Through Ajira Program

After successfully training 250 youths in Bungoma on how to make money online in partnership with the Ajira Program, the county government is looking to commit to increasing the number to 3,400 by 2022.

According to Governor Wycliffe Wafula Wangamati, with the high unemployment rate in the region, about 364,408 graduates will remain jobless if the government sits by and ignores them.

The governor noted that the internet brings forth countless opportunities that can be leveraged to create employment.

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“This is why Ajira is the best news to us and in our 2019/2020 budget, we will commit some resources towards training and building infrastructure that support online work,” Wangamati said.

He also added that the county government is investing in high-speed internet and a reliable power supply to ensure that the youth work consistently.

Speaking during the launch of the Ajira Program by the Cabinet Secretary of ICT, Joe Mucheru, the governor noted that his government is budgeting for an innovation hub that will train youth on mobile applications, digital literacy, web-based applications, cybersecurity, forensics, and online jobs, which make the popular trend.

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Wangamati stated that the hub will provide countless opportunities for the youth in the region including blogging, marketing, teaching, freelance and academic writing among others.

“Our youth are increasingly spending more hours on the internet and creating an opportunity for them to earn as they interact and transact online is the surest way to ensure maximum output from them,” said the governor.

Through the program, the county said that it was placing its youth under the care of established mentorship groups that are already eking out a living doing online work. According to the governor, there are already three groups in place.

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Governor Wangamati urged the MPs of the region to consider building constituency innovation hubs to complement the goal. This is to empower the County Ajira Implementation Committee to deliver on their mandate including monitoring the success of the program, identifying issues and addressing them if any.

“We shall also seek the partnership of all stakeholders including political leaders, the national government and other individuals as well as entities taking a keen interest on ensuring that more and more of our graduate youths find a way to make a living,” the governor concluded.