COUNTY GOVERNMENT OF NAKURU

DEPARTMENT OF YOUTH, GENDER, CULTURE, SPORTS

AND SOCIAL SERVICES
DIRECTORATE OF YOUTH AFFAIRS

OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR

Youth Empowerment is the provision of adequate and appropriate skills to individuals aged
between 18-35 years to facilitate them in making an informed decision to implement change
in their lives and lives of others. The skills can be vocational, entrepreneurial and other life
skills. Youth need equal opportunities as other citizens to realize their fullest potential and
productively participate in economic, social, political, and cultural life without fear or favor.
Despite this visualization, youth in Kenya continue to face myriad of challenges including but
not limited to lack of employment and lack of basic youth support system. (National Youth
Policy)

Nakuru County Youth empowerment program aims at empowering the youth of Nakuru
through providing tools that will enable them venture into self-employment and
entrepreneurship. It is in this view that the County Government pioneered the Youth
Empowerment Program which is aimed at captivating the youth in embracing self-
employment as a way of enabling them to create gainful jobs and generate income.

In the Financial Year 2020/2021, the program was allocated approximately KES. 100 million.
The Categories of items were;

 Motorcycle and safety gear.

 Carwash machines and accessories.
 Salon kits.
 Catering items.
 Incubators with generators.
 Market umbrellas.
 Tents and plastic chairs.
 Fishing equipment.
 Sound system.
In the Financial Year 2020/2021, the Youth Empowerment Program was spread across thirty-
three wards in ten Sub-counties. The number of individual beneficiaries reached were
approximately 11,246 as follows;

 Motorcycle umbrellas- 3,660

 Market umbrellas-640
 Reflector jackets-2,655
 Helmets-753
 Meko gas-65
 Shaving machines-446
 Hairdryers-90
 Blowdryers-506
 Overalls-55
 Gumboots-70
 Washing sinks-25
 Plastic chairs-2,273

In addition, the number of youth groups that benefited from the program were 313 as follows;

 Food warmer – 18
 Generators-8
 Oven – 3
 Blender – 6
 Motorcycles – 115
 Carwash Machines – 90
 Tents – 35
 Sound system – 5
 Water Tank – 39
 Incubator with Generator – 2

In the Financial Year 2021/2022, the Youth Empowerment Program was allocated
approximately 180 million. This represents an 80 percent increase in the allocation. The
program grew to cover an additional fifteen Wards spread across eleven Sub – counties. The
sectors that are going to benefit from this expansion are;
 1. Entertainment sector/ Art
2. Building and Construction
3. Catering and Hospitality
4. Beauty Industry
5. Transport Sector
6. Jua kali Sector
7. Manufacturing Sector

The number of individual beneficiaries is targeted to triple in size to 33,738. The targeted
groups is expected to increase to over 500. In this Financial Year, the empowerment program
has focused on youths who are graduates of the County’s Vocational Training Centres
(VTCs) by giving them priority in the allocation of items such as Shaving machines, Blow
dryers, Hair Dryers, and Tool boxes.

Other considerations have been considered such as Marginalised groups like Persons with
Disability (PWDs), Women, and Special Interest Groups such as Persons Living with
HIV/AIDS (PLHIV/AIDS).

In conclusion, the Directorate recognises the great potential the program has and it
recommends that efforts to grow it be put in place through the adoption on the Nakuru
County Youth Policy such that the program will continue to benefit and reach more youths
across the County for greater development and gives cognizance to the critical role that
youths can play in actively supporting its implementation for the County’s socio-economic
transformation.