Youth in Bungoma and Busia counties are set to benefit from jobs created through a project to build rural roads in the two counties following a Ksh219 million funding from Japan.
The project is a recovery measure to enable job opportunities for youths who had lost their jobs due to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Japanese government collaborated with the county government and other organisations such as Toyota Kenya, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC), National Roads and Motorists' Association (NRMA).
The youth are managed by the Community Road Empowerment group which caters for the distribution of funds within the two counties.
"This project is a learning opportunity for the youth to learn how to build roads. We are targeting 50 youth from each county," said the project manager.
"The project has been of great benefit to our children as they are now busy training and earning for themselves. They have now moved away from drug abuse and alcoholism," noted one happy parent.
The project will help curb high crime rates in the area such as robbery with violence and murder.
"Our children used to pass here on their way to school, where they used to be hijacked by thieves," revealed one of the area's parents.
The government has come up with various development projects that seek to provide employment opportunities to Kenyan youth.
President Uhuru Kenyatta on February 24 said his government was committed to facilitating youth development by improving ease of doing business for young people.
He said this during the Kenya Youth Employment and Opportunities Project event where he announced allocating Ksh1.3 billion to Kenya's youth economy.
