Government’s dilemma as youths miss out on tenders

Kisumu County Assembly  during a past sitting. Members want to know why youths in the county are not being awarded government contracts. [PHOTO: FILE/STANDARD]

Youths in Kisumu have not won any county government contracts tenders despite legal requirement compelling the area government to give 30 per cent of all contracts to marginalised groups.

A statement from the county executive that was read in the County Assembly on Thursday indicated that none of the youths in Kisumu had been awarded the tenders by the county government.

The executive said youths in the county had not applied for contracts. Kisumu Leader of Majority Samuel Ong’ow told the county assembly that youths had not shown interest in the contracts.

“No youth has been awarded any contract because they have not sent in their applications for the tenders,” he remarked.

The statement did not go down well, however, with other Members of the County Assembly (MCA) who challenged the administration to create more chances for the youth, women and persons living with disabilities. Nominated MCA Lydia Odhiambo accused the executive of shortchanging the youth in the award of tenders.

NOT CONSIDERED

“I have evidence that some youths applied for the contracts, but were not considered,” she lamented.

The assembly’s chief whip Isaiah Onyango suggested that the county government should reduce work experience required for most jobs in the county government to give the youth an advantage.

“Most adverts for the jobs indicate five years and above. This should be reduced to about one or two years for the good of our youths,” he said.

After one year in office, the Kisumu government has rolled out projects worth more than Sh580 million, most of which are meant for upgrading roads in the region.

The failure by the youth to take advantage of the projects has forced the county administration to take new measures aimed at enticing them.

The government has now placed an advert specifically targeting the marginalised groups, including the youths in the county, to apply for tenders.

“We have advertised works under the Public Procurement and Disposal Act targeting youth, women and persons with disabilities to mainstream participation of youth-run enterprises in economic development,” said Governor Jack Ranguma.

TRAVEL ADVISORIES

Meanwhile hotels in the county have remained vibrant despite the travel advisories issued by western countries.

Most of them have been fully booked for the last three weeks despite the months being categorised as low season for the industry.

‘‘We are receiving a lot of customers that were targeted for Nairobi and Mombasa. The business is doing pretty well in this region,’’ said Robinson Anyal, the chairman of Kisumu Hotel Owners’ Association.

The industry players said the region, which has not officially been declared by a safe destination for tourists by the Government, has not been affected by the advisories.

A spot check by The Standard found that a number of hotels in the region are receiving visitors including foreign nationals.

But the region relies heavily on domestic tourism which accounts for more than 80 per cent of  business.

‘‘We are happy that people are beginning to embrace local tourism,’’ said Anyal.