Technology Cabinet Secretary Joe Mucheru has hit out at the Deputy President William Ruto for celebrating the fall of Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) fall.
Without mentioning the DP directly, Mucheru said some leaders fervently thanked God the Father for the adverse court ruling missing the bigger picture.
“They missed the bigger picture because the whole issue was politicised and anchored as a power hunt rather than a noble development initiative that would devolve more funds to the people,” he said.
“In my opinion, what the judiciary has done in dismissing BBI is to usurp the role of Wanjiku in deciding her fate. They have opted to settle political scores at the expense of the common man.”
According to Mucheru, through BBI initiative, the government was planning to ameliorate some of the hardships by pledging to shift more resources mashinani.
However, despite the court ruling, Mucheru said the government will not be deterred in doubling its efforts to spur development across the country, and in particular supporting the youth to become core pillars of their development agenda.
He also called out the church which he said has been silenced by massive donations from politicians, who have then been gifted with the pulpit to preach the gospel of division.
“These Bible-waving politicians have especially targeted the youth because they think – wrongly – that youth are gullible and easy to manipulate,” he said.
He spoke at the launch of the National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK) youth fragility report at the national youth conference in Kiambu.
He said his ministry has educated thousands of youth on how to earn from digital and digitally-enabled jobs through the Ajira Digital Program.
“My ministry is responsible for ensuring that among other things, the youth are equipped, empowered, and protected with the aim of making them self-reliant,” he said.
According to Mucheru, the government disbursed a total of Sh.660 million in loans since the onset of Covid-19 in the country.
He said that these loans have helped to sustain youth-owned enterprises, thereby enabling them to diversify into new opportunities, sustain their livelihoods and become employers.
“This financial year Kenyan youth stand to benefit from a grant from the Federal Republic of Germany through a Technical Cooperation Agreement with Kenya of Ksh. 830 million towards empowerment of Kenyan Youth through a project dubbed Vijana Vuka na Afya (VIVA),” he said.
The program targets youth aged 15 to 24 years from informal settlements in the cities of Kisumu, Mombasa, and Nairobi, for a duration of 3 years.
