2,000 Youth Benefit From College Scholarships, Business Startups Courtesy Of Morris Mburu.

Morris Mburu addressing a large gathering in Kiandutu Slums on Saturday when he launched the "Chora Biznaa" programme and free college scholarships for youth from poor families.

Over 2,000 aspirational youth and women have a reason to smile after Thika Town Parliamentary aspirant Morris Mburu awarded free grants to help get business venture off the ground.

Speaking in Kiandutu Slum on Saturday while launching the “CHORA BIZNA” programme and college scholarship for youth and women from poor background, Mburu said that his ultimate goal was to support equip the less fortunate in the society become a new generation of young entrepreneurs and skilled workers.

“Supporting the youth to acquire income-generating skills and encourage them to add value to their lives is a passion that I have carried on throughout my adult life. I will not come here to dish out a few coins for you to vote for me. I have a commitment to make a significant, lasting impact on the long-term economic vitality and resilience of individuals, families and communities in this constituency,” said Mburu.

For the last two weeks, youth and women within the constituency have been applying to benefit from this “chora bizna” programme whereby 2,070 applications were received. Out of this, the first batch of 1,000 beneficiaries will start receiving their stock next week, with the remainder being assimilated in due course.

“We were overwhelmed by the number of applicants that applied for these grants. We have therefore scheduled to accomplish this programme within three phases where the first batch will start receiving their merchandise as from Tuesday next week. I would also want to make this clear that none of those who applied will be left out of this initiative,” he said.

Among those who applied, majority of them had sought to start small business enterprises ranging from cafes, milk palours, kinyozi, cake baking, groceries and so on. The beneficiaries will not receive cash capital rather they will get it in form of stock and equipment necessary for starting their businesses.

Another 223 youth benefitted from college scholarships for various skilled manpower such as plumbing, driving, masonry, IT, secretarial and so forth. This group consisted of young boys and girls who had failed to join any tertiary institution due to financial constraints.

Mburu said that if elected, he plans to establish a centre of excellence within Thika Town Constituency where youth born of less poor background could be sponsored to attain skills in vocational or technical subjects. He also said that he would initiate a programme to establish the number of unemployed youth which they would use to either create employment for them or seek job opportunities from other stakeholders.

“I believe everyone is talented and has a wealth of ideas in their own rights. All these people need is someone to guide them to achieve their dreams. We will set up a database to establish the number of jobless people in the constituency in a view to seeking practical solutions to this problem,” explained Mburu.

On Jubilee party nominations scheduled for Friday next week, Mburu appealed to every registered voter to participate in the exercise saying that the results of these primaries may be the determining factor of who will be their leaders for the next five years. He pleaded with the electorate not to gamble with their lives by ensuring that they voted for development conscious leaders.

“On 21^st April, please wake up very and go to your respective polling stations and vote in the leaders who will propel you to the next level. As for the MP slot, please vote for Morris Mburu as he your ultimate solution to the current predicaments,” he said.