Round up of what’s new on Yipe!

Business Startup

How to Go about Setting up Your Small Business
For someone starting out in business, success is the ultimate goal. Many people have the desire to work for themselves or run a small business but often it’s knowing where to start that means people fall at the first hurdle.

---

Events

Kenya’s National Youth Summit set to kick off a new era in youth development
Kenya’s National Youth Summit 2013 set to kick off from January 31st to February 1st 2013 will bring together 2,000 young leaders from across the country’s 47 counties to inspire pride, patriotism and social cohesion among the young people.

---

Awards:

Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship 2014
The Skoll Foundation provides Skoll Awards every year to select few social entrepreneurs whose proven innovations have demonstrated impact on some of the world’s most pressing problems. The Skoll Award recognizes organizations with the potential to not only be individually successful, but also to catalyze large-scale, system-level change.

Kenya’s National Youth Summit set to kick off a new era in youth development

Kenya’s National Youth Summit 2013 set to kick off from January 31st to February 1st 2013 will bring together 2,000 young leaders from across the country’s 47 counties to inspire pride, patriotism and social cohesion among the young people.

According to the 2009 Kenya Population and Housing Census, the youth aged below 35 years account for more than 70%. This is a significant cohort of the national population that can influence social, economic and political transformation. The youth are therefore critical in achieving the ambitous goals set out in the nation’s development roadmap known as Vision 2030.

With 2013 being a year for general elections, the National Youth Summit is informed by the need to rebrand and inspire young people to act as peace ambassadors who choose to take responsibility and make a difference in their communities.

Read More

Dhamira Moja Youth Group social enterprise profile

Dhamira Moja Youth Group (DHAMO) is a community based organization founded on the principal of empowering young adults who lack skills and have little or no formal education in Kenya’s Busia County.

The Dhamo idea is an African-born global grassroots movement connecting the privileged young (and young at heart) to issues of poverty in Africa and providing them with a framework for action. Anyika Khaimba, the Executive Director was kind enough to answer a few of our questions regarding Dhamira Moja.

Read More

Youth Unemployment Outlook August 8th 2012

Inadequate job creation for school leavers remains a major challenge in Kenya

President Kibaki tells African leaders to invest in the youth as a way to become globally competitive in terms of human capital.

Ugandan billionaire launches mentorship portal

Ashish J. Thakkar, CEO of the Mara Group, says the Mara.com portal will nurture an ecosystem for youth while improving skills and emerging talent.

UK coalition government relaunches its flagship youth contract

Through government backed wage subsidies and other incentives, firms are encouraged to take on 18 to 24-year-olds and give them a leg up on the employment ladder.

 

 

 

National Council for Science & Technology Women Scientists Research Grants

National Council for Science & Technology Women Scientists Research Grants Kenya’s National Council for Science and Technology (NCST) is receiving proposal for research from female scientists. The grant is worth Ksh 5,000,000 over a period of two years.

Read More

National Council for Science & Technology – Health, Water and Sanitation Research Grants

The National Council for Science and Technology (NCST) is accepting Concept Notes for research papers that address Kenya’s health, water and sanitation challenges. Each proposal must by submitted by a team of researchers representing varying backgrounds. Grants are worth Ksh 15,000,000 over a period of three years.

Read more

Kenya’s Youth Bulge Can Drive Prosperity

As a result of unchecked fertility in decades past, coupled with reduced child mortality, many people are now in their prime reproductive years, making even modest rates of fertility yield huge population increases. This, according to John Bongaarts of Population Council in New York, translates into adding more than 70 million people to the planet every year, which has been happening since the 1970s. The African continent is expected to double in population by the middle of this century, adding one billion people despite the ravages of Aids and malnutrition.

What does this augur for Kenya?

Read More

Statement by the National Youth Sector Alliance on the Financial Impropriety of the Youth Enterprise Development Fund

Nairobi 29^th May 2012

 

The Youth Enterprise Development fund was launched in 2006 by President Mwai Kibaki with an initial disbursement of KShs1 billion. The fund was established by a legal notice under the State Corporations Act 2007. The fund’s mandate was to address the rising youth unemployment in the country, as well as provide youth entrepreneurs with capital for business startup and growth. The Fund was converted to a state corporation later in 2007, under the ministry of Youth & Affairs and Sports(MOYAS).

 

In a letter dated 28^th November 2008, the Kenya National Audit Office detailed audit queries to the then Chief Executive Officer of the Fund. The Ministry denied having lost any money but confirmed receipt of the investigation report.

 

Internal fights ensued between the then chair Hellen Tombo and then Minister Prof Hellen Sambili over action to address the issues at Management level, consequence of which the then CEO Mr. Wario was suspended. KACC was called in but before the completion of investigations, the then CEO was reinstated without any explanations.

 

As the country heads to the next election, the Youth have become the natural target for votes by all leading contenders of the Presidency, Senators, Governors, Members of Parliament to County, Women and Ward representatives. Action is yet to be seen from Parliament to which YEDF reports its achievements. This issue will be the LITMUS TEST, if indeed young people are priority for them. The time for accountability has come when MPs must demonstrate their commitment to ensuring the benefits of YEDF to young people are real and the funds available are not misdirected.

 

Mismanagement, Impropriety and Embezzlement of Youth Funds

 

The National Youth Sector Alliance (NYSA) takes exception to the issues of impropriety that have freshly emerged at the YEDF. The audit report dated 30^th April 2012 details the misappropriation of millions of shillings from the youth fund in fraudulent claims. The audit, done by the fund’s internal audit team, found questionable imprest claims and payments as follows:

 

1. Weaknesses in the entire system of the Fund
2. Lack of a procurement Specialist
3. Poor performance under contract performance in 2011/2012
4. Engagement of financial sector partners without due diligence to the Public Procurement and Disposal (Public Private Partnership) Regulations, 2009.
5. Exaggerated fuel consumption and misuse of work tickets, and falsification of youth payment schedules by officers of the fund (Outright Theft by the staff) which goes against the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act, 2004, Public Officers Ethics Act, 2003 and Employment Act, 2007.
6. Lack of proper communication channels
7. Non authentic pre-disbursement under the Business Development Services , where some activities amounting to 1,133,500.00 were paid for but never took place
8. Fictitious receipts for county sensitizations expenditures
9. Impropriety over 4,231,000.00 million that was spent on agri business sensitization
10. Systemic weaknesses originating from lack of an implementation matrix with strategies.

 

The National Youth Sector Alliance can confirm that indeed based on the internal audit, the YEDF has been looted with the full knowledge of very senior government officials.

 

Demands from the Youth of Kenya

 

1. The current MPs and aspiring MPs must demonstrate their commitment to young people in Kenya to access financial services, profitable enterprise, quality (basic) health services, security, representation (the National Youth Council) and protection of basic rights as enshrined in our Constitution.
2. The Board of Directors, Mandated to safeguard the Fund with Fiduciary responsibility, on behalf of the Kenyan youth must take political responsibility; explain to Kenyans their role in the mismanagement of the funds.
3. The Minister and Permanent Secretary, to take Political responsibility and step aside for a proper forensic audit and prosecution of the staff culpable of misappropriation of the funds.
4. The Artoney General and Director of Public Prosecution to institute full investigations into the alleged impropriety, and prosecute the culpable individuals. The Youth shall appoint their independent lawyers to join in the Legal team.
5. As the buck stops with the President and the Prime Minister, the youth of Kenya shall be waiting for immediate action on their commitment to Agenda 4 of the National Accord which they have abrogated to their shelves.

 

The National Youth Sector Alliance shall continue to mobilize young Kenyans from all over the country to begin to pay vigil on these issues until action is taken. The next course of action shall be announced if the above 4 demands are not implemented within 7 Days.

 

About the National Youth Sector Alliance (NYSA)

 

The National Youth Sector Alliance (NYSA) is a conglomeration of over 350 youth organizations, youth sector actors, NGO’s, Societies, FBO’s, CBO’s Youth Groups, among others in the country coming together for purposes of ensuring coherent Policy engagement with Government, Private Sector and other relevant stakeholders.

 

National Youth Sector Alliance (NYSA)

2nd Floor, World Alliance of YMCA Building, PAWA254 Hub

State House Crescent, Off State House Avenue

P.O. Box 8799, 00200, Nairobi Kenya

Cell: +254722619005

Web: http://www.nysa.co.ke

 

K.C.P.E Results Meaningless

By Harrison Mumia

I had been enjoying my holiday till I saw parents on Citizen TV dancing with their children for scoring 440 / 500 MKS. It was comic. The parents did not seem to realize that the world today has changed. The dancing and screaming for me was a sign of short lived pride, and a lack of understanding of the world we live in. As Sam Ongeri announced the results, I realized how backward we are as a society, how crappy our education system is.

In the United States, have you ever heard an education minister coming on CNN to announce results? Or in Canada? Did you see parents dancing on ABC, NBC, and other TV stations? It’s because their education system emphasized capability and talent, not merely education as Kenyans know it. We seem to praise the children who get 400 MKS as if they are the brightest. No !! It’s our Education System that recognizes this stupidity. Children are not all about their marks. We should create a culture of appreciating other capabilities, like football, swimming, singing, dancing, for not all children can be the same.

Our media, by going berserk about the results, is creating the impression that all that matters in Kenya is the stupid KCPE results, which most of us do not even put in our CVs. We should have an education system that recognizes that humans are capable of many many things. We should scrap KCPE, and we should avoid grading students based on marks. It’s outdated and not helpful.

Let me first congratulate the average students who got 300 MKS. For them, all is not lost. They will become the Caroline Mutoko’s of the future, the Mwalimu Kingangi’s, the business men and women who shall run vast empires.

For the celebrating parents, hold your horses. Today in Kenya, Jobs are scarce. Everyone has a degree. And degrees are not difficult to get. Even with a C+ your child can do medicine. So it does not matter that your child scored highly in primary school, let alone high school. Higher education has been liberalized. It matters less what your child did in  primary school.

And the Job market has changed. Kenyans are more jobless than ever. Degrees do not guarantee jobs. Sometimes ethnicity will do you a better job at getting a job. So to those celebrating parents, relax. You are just being rush when you celebrate. KCPE results mean nothing, if only to demonstrate that your child has basic capabilities of learning and  retaining stuff.

And Alliance High School and Starehe are no longer those prestigious schools that every parent wanted their children to go to. We have schools that have come up and are offering quality all round education, where they build talent and potential. And parents have realized this.

KCPE results are meaningless, and they just show how our Education System is messed up.

Harrison N. Mumia, Central Bank of Kenya

Copyright © The Atheist

The 50 Treasures of Kenya Trust – Challenging internship in marketing and PR!

The 50 Treasures of Kenya Trust (TOKT) is a charitable organization based in Ngong, Kenya. It has been set up to identify, document and promote the biggest attractions of Kenya as the “50 Treasures of Kenya“ in connection to the country’s 50^th anniversary of independence in 2013.

The objectives of the TOKT’s activities are to contribute to the country’s socio-economic development and help to attain the goals of the Kenya Vision 2030 through a better utilization and marketing of Kenya’s tourism potential. The TOKT strives for a wider and more even distribution of the benefits through tourism within Kenya, while at the same time safeguarding Kenya’s natural and cultural treasures for future generations by developing and supporting ecologically, culturally and socially sustainable tourism throughout the country.

The Trust is run by a young, creative and cheerful team which shares a common spirit and vision. Interns are offered the chance to:

• gather a wide range of professional experience;
• develop new skills;
• take up responsibility;
• develop into a permanent team member;
• contribute to realizing the vision of a better Kenya.

The intern’s portfolio of work will comprise, amongst others: Marketing and PR planning; content management and design of inhouse media; out house media and press relations; presentation materials; CI of the Trust; networking; planning and running of publicity campaigns.

The 50 Treasures of Kenya team are looking for young, team-minded and inspired people, who are about to or have finished professional education in marketing and/or PR and collected some on the job experience.

Applicants must be reliable and honest, good in organizing, coordinating and planning. They should be versatile writers and speakers in English language, own basics in photoshop and indesign or equivalent, being communicative, well connected and acquainted with domestic and international media.

Interested? Then send cv with picture and qualifications to: info@hartmut-fiebig.de