Jitume Lab Program To Benefit 1 Million Kenyans

Over one million youths are set to benefit from Jitume program in the next 3-5 years from Jitume labs program being rolled out by the Government.

Speaking at Matili Training Institute in Kimilili Sub County Bungoma, Ministry of Information Communication and Digital Economy Cabinet Secretary, CS, Mr. Eliud Owalo said the government has rolled out the program that will enable youths get employment online.

He said that the program that was officially launched by President Dr. William Ruto referred as Jitume labs initiative at Kabete National Technical Polytechnic in December 2022 will complement the success of the existing digital program such as Ajira and Kenya Youth Empowerment Program.

The Cabinet Secretary noted that when President Ruto came to power in 2022, he expanded the mandate of the Ministry of ICT and assigned digital economic function to the Ministry.

“This automatically placed ICT at the core of country economic transformation agenda,” he said adding that the jitume program seeks to address issues relating to connectivity devices and digital skills as well as job opportunities targeting the youth countrywide.

He further noted that technology has put Kenya on the global map as a leading innovation hub noting that the country is home to unique innovation technology such as MPESA among others.

Mr. Owalo said that the government was targeting to train youths on ICT skills using existing TVET institutions. “The main aim is creating a critical mass skilled labour to support and benefit youths from the digital economy,” he said.

“Many of the young people are unable to access training facilities and this is the gap the programme will address,” he said.

He noted each Jitume center will have up to 100 virtual desktop Infrastructure with broadband connectivity reliable power and security Programme Coordinator provided by KONZA tele pools which is leading partner in the program.

The Cabinet Secretary further noted that each center will have two main programs, the first one will be jitume class training component which is aimed at providing training on skills for digital economy to enable youths access digital jobs.

He said the class will feature both physical and virtual program delivering components supported by partners.

Mr. Owalo said that the second component is jitume kazi which is a work hub/center that provide conducive environment to access online jobs.

“The model has been made possible by the collaboration between ministries, including ICT and Digital Economy, Education, Labour, Foreign & Diaspora Affairs and implementing agencies including ICT Authority, TVET Authority and KONZA techno pool,” he said.

“The Government is keen on availing common services on online portal for ease of access to citizens; this will start by digitizing of government records,” he noted.