Politics
Garissa Woman Rep Udgoon Siyad has called on the political class to shun the culture of doling handouts and instead focus on improving the living standards of their electorate.
Udgoon said that the politics of handouts has been overtaken by time and Kenyans are now demanding services geared towards empowering them for self-sustainability. The woman rep was speaking today at the Garissa County offices where she launched the county NGAAF projects for the financial year 2023/2024.
A total of 127 groups received equipment for establishment of car wash businesses, beauty therapy and saloons as well as desks and lockers for schools all valued at over Sh21 million. “I am here today to lead the exercise of giving out equipment that will enable these women and youth to work for themselves and earn something out of it,” Udgoon said.
“Instead of dishing handouts I prefer people working for themselves. This way we shall be empowering our people so that they can support their families,” she added. The woman rep said the main aim of the programme is to empower women, the youth and people with disabilities establish small and medium businesses by giving out cash as well as items every financial year.
Udgoon noted that the recent anti-government demonstrations by the youth was a wakeup call for the elected leaders and added that handouts can no longer be entertained by Kenyans.
“My humble appeal to fellow leaders is, please let us all think outside the box and use our God-given opportunity to change the lives of our people. All funds that come under us be it at the county level, NGAAF or NG-CDF that are controlled by MPs should be put to good use,” Udgoon said.
She urged the beneficiaries of the programme to make good use of the donated items and money given to them to change their lives for the better. Garissa County NGAAF coordinator Hassan Haress said that the impact of the project to the community has so far been immense adding that going forward the gaps that have existed will be narrowed.
On the issue of some of the beneficiaries resorting to selling the same items that they have been given, Haress said that the office has put in place a monitoring and evaluation mechanism where a beneficiary-follow up is done. “We always ensure that we visit them from time to time either physically or virtually. This will give them a chance to benefit from more assistance depending on how a beneficiary empowers themselves,” he said.