BBI the way to a prosperous future, Education CAS tells youths
Education Chief Administrative Secretary (CAS) Zack Kinuthia during an interview at his Uchumi House office in Nairobi on September 1, 2020.
What you need to know:
- The CAS has asked the youth to instead take advantage of opportunities presented by the handshake between President Uhuru Kenyatta and Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) leader Raila Odinga.
The youth should support the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) as it is not a political document but a means to a prosperous future for all young Kenyans, Education Chief Administrative Secretary (CAS) Zack Kinuthia has said.
The CAS has asked the youth to instead take advantage of opportunities presented by the handshake between President Uhuru Kenyatta and Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) leader Raila Odinga.
He spoke on Thursday during the launch of the Young Turks Handshake Alliance (YoTHA), which describes itself as a non-partisan national network of patriotic young Kenyans united across tribal, race, class and political divides, and which supports the handshake and the BBI.
The CAS and Mr Jaoko Oburu Odinga are its co-chairs.
The two said the alliance is in the process of partnering with all youths in promoting the BBI for the sake of lasting peace, love, unity and prosperity.
“We are mandated by President Kenyatta and Mr Odinga to network with all Kenyans of goodwill and friends of Kenya across the country and the globe who support the handshake and the BBI.
To achieve their objectives, the two have set up a 18,000-member coordination team drawn from across the country, with men and women each getting 50 percent representation.
Youth commission
The CAS and Mr Oburu cited the proposed creation of a youth commission, to promote the rights of the youth and ensure they participate in national legislative matters, as the key BBI highlight for young people.
The document proposes nomination of two youth representatives - one man and one woman - to the National Assembly.
The officials also cited an expanded devolution through increased national budgetary allocations to counties, from a minimum of 15 percent to 35 per cent, based on revenue collections.
There is also a proposal to divide five percent of all of a county’s revenue in each financial year among all its wards.
Mr Oburu said the creation of 70 more constituencies will not only allow better representation of the people but also ensure a bigger share of the County Development Fund and more opportunities for the youth to have a stake in the country’s leadership.
“These are a few areas of strength and benefit for the Kenyan youth in the BBI,” he said, adding their strategy is to create a committed army of 10 million patriots drawn from the counties, constituencies, wards and polling stations.
