Samba Sports for Youth Agenda in Kwale county has started a project of empowering youths on different business ideas as a way to avoid them from involving themselves with unlawful acts.

Speaking to journalists during an interview the Samba sport partnership advisor Mohammed Mwachausa said that they have so far started businesses for 270 youths such as poultry keeping, cyber cafes, fruit parlours, tailoring and saloons for different groups of youth.

“We want the youths to avoid being idle at the social hang outs joints. Because it is at these areas that they start involving themselves with the criminal groups,” Mwachausa said.

Mwachausa noted that as the country approaches an electioneering period they have seen most youths being misused by politicians due to idleness.

“As we have started with the empowerment of the 270 youths we are planning to have more and am sure because they will be busy with the businesses even during the campaign and election period no one of them will want to involve him/herself in criminal gangs,” he said.

Yakub Ramadhan the project officer also said that they are also working closely with vocational training colleges to make sure that those youths that do not have skills go to college before they empower them.

“We pay school fees for the youths that are not skilled and currently we have paid for some of them doing plumbing, hair dresser and tailoring courses in different vocational training institutes,” Ramadhan said.

A 21 years old Ruth Nthenya who is one of the beneficiary of the project lauded the organization for assisting them.

“Am happy that am currently a qualified hairdresser and Samba sports has even extended the empowerment by opening for us a salon,” Nthenya said.