The State Department for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) Development has announced a new partnership with ODM Youth League member Kasmuel McOure.
In a statement on Thursday, December 18, MSMEs Development Principal Secretary Susan Mang’eni said the government is seeking to widen the reach and impact of her department by working closely with youth-led structures.
She noted that the collaboration with McOure is intended to ensure young people receive timely and relevant information that can help them improve their economic prospects.
"To expand the reach and impact of our State Department, we look forward to collaborating with Kasmuel McOure, the convener of the Broad-Based Youth Front, to ensure that more young people can access timely information, opportunities, and tools that support their economic empowerment," she said.
Mang’eni explained that the partnership will focus on promoting key government programs that support youth-led enterprises and MSMEs.
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She said the goal is to increase awareness and participation in initiatives that provide financing, infrastructure, and enterprise development support.
"Through this collaboration, we aim to deepen youth awareness and uptake of key government initiatives, including the Hustle Fund, NYOTA Project and shared User Spaces under Kenya Industrial Estates (KIE) that enable MSMEs to engage in value addition, scale their enterprises, and create sustainable livelihoods," she added.
The partnership comes a week after McOure launched Broad-Based Youth Front to lobby the government directly for youth interests.
In a statement on Tuesday, December 9, he said he will not take direction from any politician who did not participate in the June 2024 protests.
McOure emphasized that the broad-based youth front will champion the affairs of the young people directly without relying on political intermediaries.
"I will not take direction from any politician who was not with me on the streets last year regarding the broad-based government. Their popularity or political status notwithstanding.
"We are in this broad-based government until it fully delivers its mandate, and we will own it to the very end. Your cheap rhetoric and attempts at political reinvention will not deter us. Starting today, we will lobby the government for youth affairs directly, through the Broad-Based Youth Front. Politicians have toyed with the youth for far too long," he said.
McOure said the Broad-Based Youth Front will work with all leaders, especially those in President William Ruto’s administration, since public responsibility lies with them.
He also said he will reach out to the youth leagues across the broad-based formation, beginning with the UDA party, to secure an audience with party leaders and present the youth blueprint.
Further, the activist said the movement will pressure the Ministry of Youth Affairs, Creative Economy, and Sports, accusing it of failing to deliver to the young people.
"We will also raise the ante against the indolence and intolerable inefficiency of the Ministry of Youth Affairs, Creative Economy, and Sports.
"Its dismal performance treats the youth of this country as an afterthought, prioritizing personal agendas over the mandate entrusted to them," he added.
