Thousands benefit from Sh10 million funding

Mombasa County Acting Executive for Youth Sports and Gender Hazel Koitaba speaks to youth, women and people living with Disabilities on May 23, 2017 at Tononoka Social Hall where she issued cheques worth Sh10million to 182 groups. PHOTO | WACHIRA MWANGI | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • 182 women, youth and disabled people groups from Likoni, Changamwe and Jomvu received cheques.
  • Evaluation and monitoring committee is in place to work closely with the beneficiaries.
  • The programme, would reduce the numbers of unemployed youth in the county.

Women and youth groups in Mombasa have benefited from Sh10 million distributed from the Mombasa County Revolving Fund.

A total of 182 groups of women, youth and the disabled from Likoni, Changamwe and Jomvu sub-counties received cheques on Tuesday at Tononoka Social Hall in a colourful ceremony presided over by County Executive in charge of Finance Hazel Koitaba.

“We have distributed 182 cheques to the groups, each group received between Sh50, 000 and Sh100, 000,” said Ms Koitaba.

Last week, Sh1.7 million was distributed to groups of people with disabilities in Mwakirunge, Kisauni sub-county, she said, and added that the county government set aside Sh120 million for the Fund in the 2016/17 financial year.

INDEPENDENT BODY

Asked why the rolling out of the Fund comes now, few months to election, Ms Koitaba said the Fund was an independent body.

“It takes a lot of time to set up such a Fund. The logistics are more complicated than many people can understand. We worked very hard to have it operational. The timing has nothing to do with politics,” she said.

“We have worked with them, to identify projects and businesses and have officials to guide them through in case they find difficulties along the way,” she said during an interview.

EVALUATION AND MONITORING

An evaluation and monitoring committee was in place to work closely with the beneficiaries so as to reduce the percentage of business failure, she said.

However, there is major challenge, she said, of documenting qualified groups such as those with disabilities.

The programme, would reduce the numbers of unemployed youth in the county, said Ms Koitaba.

“We have more than 300,000 unemployed youth in Mombasa County. This programme will empower many of them by creating self-employment,” she said.

She told the beneficiaries to put the cash into intended and identified businesses, saying it was the only way to make sure they benefited from the Fund.