A Section of the recruits during the pass out.
A total of 920 young men and women have graduated from the fifth cohort of the Meru Youth Service (MYS) in a programme aimed at empowering youth through discipline, skills development and economic opportunities.
Speaking during the graduation ceremony held at the ASK Showground in Gitoro, Meru Governor Isaac Mutuma said the programme had equipped the graduates with discipline, patriotism and a spirit of community service while preparing them for future economic opportunities.
The governor said the graduates had made significant contributions to community service across the county, including cleaning 102 markets and towns, opening blocked drainage systems, collecting garbage and participating in environmental conservation activities.
He noted that each graduate would receive a stipend of Sh18,700 for the days spent in community service. In addition, parents and guardians received Sh3,700 each after a portion of the trainees’ daily allowance was remitted to them during the training period.
Mutuma said the graduation marked the beginning of another phase in the youth empowerment programme, announcing that all graduates would proceed to vocational training colleges to acquire technical and artisan skills.
“After discipline must come skills, and after skills must come economic empowerment. This graduation is not a farewell but a transition,” he said.
Meru County Governor Reverend Mutuma M’Ethingia addressing the pass out attendants.
The governor said the county government had deliberately transformed vocational training centres into engines of youth empowerment and economic transformation to equip young people with skills needed in the job market.
He added that the programme seeks to transform youth from job seekers into job creators by providing them with opportunities to earn dignified livelihoods and contribute to economic development.
MYS Board Chairperson Caroline Ntinyari urged the graduates to take advantage of opportunities in the digital economy and use their creativity to generate employment, income and innovation.
She also challenged the youth to promote peaceful coexistence and mutual respect in their communities.
“I urge you to choose discipline over destruction, purpose over peer pressure and ambition over addiction. Your future is too precious to be destroyed by drug and alcohol abuse,” she said.
Ntinyari said the MYS Board remained committed to building a sustainable, innovative and independent programme that would continue empowering young people across the county.
