Vijana Twaweza! Change Our Nation – Central Region Youth
November 4, 2021
Vijana Twaweza! Change Our Nation
Conference Communique
Preamble
The Vijana Twaweza! Central Region Youth Conference has been held on 3rd and 4th November 2021 here at Bethany House, Sagana, with more than 100 Youth Leaders present. The Youth Leaders were drawn from Embu, Kirinyaga, Murang’a, Nyeri, Nyandarua, and Laikipia counties, and were guided by the theme “Wholesome Youth for a Wholesome Society (1 Timothy 4: 12)”
Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.
Recognizing that the past leadership approaches and structures have not resulted in the best welfare for the Youth in Kenya, the Youth Leaders present received the Biblical challenge to be harbingers of transformational change for the nation. We the youth have many more decades to live in Kenya, and it is upon us to make Kenya the paradise we and our children can thrive in. We now share the following message:
1. Register as Voters
As per the Constitution of Kenya 2010, the decisions that most greatly affect the lives of the people are made by political leaders at ward, constituency, county, and national levels. This means that transformation of Kenya will have to begin with radical change of the persons occupying political leadership positions.
We have committed ourselves to inspire and educate our fellow youth to register as voters in the upcoming General Elections 2022. We recognize that youth in Kenya are more than 70% of the population, and therefore have the capacity and opportunity to determine who will be elected. We will shape the paradise of our vision through the people we elect.
2. Youth Are Leaders of Today
We in this Vijana Twaweza! Conference are cognizant of the persistent suppression of the youth with the cliché that “Youth are the Leaders of Tomorrow”. We now declare that the “Tomorrow” they spoke about has already come. We the youth are the leaders of today, and it is our time and chance to provide leadership and solutions to our nation.
Towards this, we encourage all our fellow youths who have integrity, good morals and political ambition to vie for positions during the upcoming elections. We will surely support those who have clear and implementable strategies to address the legislative, policy, budgetary and programme challenges that have bedeviled our country for decades. In this way, we will transform our nation by actively participating in and influencing peaceful, credible, free and fair elections.
3. Shaping the Future
We in this Vijana Twaweza! Conference recall with pain that our country is characterized by debilitating poverty, endemic corruption, crippling tribalism, and widespread despondency. This must be changed if our country is to have a future, and the first step in this change is building a vision of the country we aspire for.
We have thus commenced the process of building youth manifestos that define our visions for every county. From here, we will convene forums in our churches, communities and other special interest groups to develop their visions and specific manifestos. We will then use these manifestos to seriously vet aspirants in the 2022 General Elections to determine those we will support. Political leaders of the future must be those who are committed to our vision of what the country should be.
As a starting point, we highlight the following elements of our vision for each county:
a) Embu County
- Work and employment programmes, especially linking youths to jobs outside the county and country
- Talent nurturing programmes
- Education programmes
- Leadership programmes
- Holding leaders to account when they get into office
b) Kirinyaga County
- Reduction of taxes and levies, coupled with tax holiday for small businesses that are less than 2 years old
- Provide full and partial scholarships for youth to enroll in Technical Training Institutes
- Implement a family education program to equip parents and youths on relationships and child upbringing
- Design and implement youth economic empowerment programmes
- End nepotism to ensure youth access county government positions through employment and appointment to committees and boards
c) Murang’a County
- Lower taxes
- Provide financial support and funds for youth to invest in businesses
- Promote agriculture especially construction of dams for irrigation
- Establish more Technical Training Institutes and Polytechnics
- Include youths in leadership committees to replace the old people who’ve been there for long
d) Nyeri County
- Reduce unemployment in the county by 25% in five years
- Make Youth Enterprise Funds more accessible by reducing the restrictions and requirements demanded
- Provide scholarships for skills and technical training courses
- Reserve more seats and slots for the youth in Boards
- Youth empowerment through mentorship, civic education, and awareness on drug abuse and other social issues
e) Nyandarua County
- Engage the youth in public participation and decision making
- Regulate prices of agricultural products and inputs
- Provides funds for start up ventures by the youth
- Equal distribution of health facilities and other social amenities in the county
- Promote industrialization to create employment
f) Laikipia County
- Reduction of taxes charged on businesses run by youths
- Formation of youth committees to link them to the government
- Revive moribund industries and establish new ones to create employment
- Promote peaceful coexistence and provide security for all
- Provide accessible, adequate and staffed social amenities including health facilities, boreholes and dams, and educational institutions
4. Keep the Vision
We in this Vijana Twaweza! Conference are aware that the greatest barrier to attainment of our vision is youth who forget it or allow discouragement to creep in. We encourage our fellow youths to always remember the inspiration of Exodus 33: 3
Go up to the land flowing with milk and honey.
Let us keep the vision, and take all lawful and righteous actions to bring it to pass. No one can actualize our vision for us, we must do it ourselves. Vijana Twaweza! make a change by keeping our vision.
Conclusion
We conclude by recalling that we the youth are not only the majority in our nation, but are also the strongest. This is the strength that God recognizes and gives success to, as we read in 1 John 2: 14
I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the Word of God lives in you, and you have overcome the evil one.
We now entrust ourselves and all youth in our nation to, by the power of God, go out and transform our nation. Vijana Twaweza! Change our Nation.
Signed on this 4th day of November 2021 at Bethany House, Sagana.
Joseph Kang’utu
Youth Rep, NCCK Central Region
Isaac Njoroge
NCCK Central Regional Manager
