CS Mucheru: Don’t hustle forever, make youthful gains

A group of men pul a handcart loaded with fruits and vegetables at Marikiti Market on December 8, 2020. [Edward Kiplimo, Standard]

ICT cabinet secretary Joe Mucheru has urged youths to use their creativity to get themselves out of poverty. 

“Your hustle today should not condemn you to a lifetime of hustling,” he said at the launch of the NCCK youth fragility report at the national youth conference in Kiambu.

Mucheru said as the CS under whose docket Youth Affairs lies, he is privy to the hardships the youth are facing, which has been exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic.

He narrated how his private phone number was publicised by a politician and how he has received calls and messages from desperate youth who have hit rock bottom and are looking for a way out.

"These pleas for help reinforce the plight of our youth that we are all familiar with," Mucheru said.

The CS said the suffering that many youths are going through has made them easy prey for politicians who make empty promises during election campaigns.

He urged the youth to take advantage of their numbers to make a difference in the country. "Go forth and seek elective office so that you can start the journey of making meaningful gains for yourselves and your country."

The National Youth Council will soon be holding its elections. A total of 1,450 wards will each have six delegates elected by the 13.7 million youth who are expected to have registered for the exercise.

The 8,700 ward delegates will elect 580 constituency delegates - a man and a woman - who will, in turn, elect 16 National Youth Council members.

Mucheru called on the Church to groom and support youth to take up leadership positions. "You should go a step further and encourage them to seek other elective offices such as the 1,450 MCA seats that will be available in 2022."

He went on, "This is the only way we can ensure our youth take leadership positions and start shaping their – and indeed the country’s – destiny."