INTERNATIONAL YOUTH DAY SPARKS HOPE FOR SUSTAINABLE GROWTH IN VIHIGA

Vihiga County celebrates International Youth Day with talent showcase

 CHAVAKALI, AUGUST 12, 2025 – The County Government of Vihiga’s Department of Gender, Culture, Youth, Sports and Social Services hosted youth leaders from across the county to mark the International Youth Day.

The day marked annually on August 12 saw the attendance of 250 youth from across Vihiga County. In a celebration marked with pomp and colour, youth showcased their talent through song, dance, drama and modelling. Young performers were cheered on by their peers as they presented their pieces before Vihiga County leaders.

Speaking during the celebrations held under a localized theme of youth empowerment for sustainability, the County Executive Committee Member for Gender, Culture, Youth, Sports and Social Services Dr. Ruth Agesa encouraged the youth to walk together and move together to achieve great things in the county.

“In our department the youth play an important role in the society and many of the things that are to be achieved in this county will be achieved when we are moving together. We need to dialogue together, to be there for one another, and do the right thing in our county to make our county shine. Let us work together to see how we can be empowered to walk together but not against each other,” said Dr. Ruth Agesa.

For his part, the National Cohesion and Integration Commission Deputy Director Public Education and Engagement Kilian Nyambu challenged the youth to change the narrative to provide leadership that offers practical solutions on how to improve lives.

The youth leaders from Sabatia, Vihiga, Hamisi, Luanda, Emuhaya and Tiriki East sub-counties in unison voiced their need to have a forum with the Governor who was the Chief Guest who agreed to sit with them to discuss youth issues.

“The Vihiga Youth Service Board advocates for the issues of the young people and we want to help youth to save in order to generate money. As youth we need to look for opportunities to get the change that we want and benchmark from the successes of other counties to find solutions for us. However, the Vihiga youth feel that we are being misrepresented and we request a roundtable with the Governor to speak to our issues and come up with solutions,” said the Vihiga Youth Service Board Chairperson Wycliffe Chabaya who raised the leaders’ concerns.

The celebrations were attended by the Governor Dr. Wilber Ottichilo, Deputy Governor Wilberforce Kitiezo, County Executive Committee Members for Gender, Culture, Youth, Sports and Social Services Dr. Ruth Agesa, Education, Science and Technical Vocational Training Anne Desma Chilande and Finance and Economic Planning Meshack Onzere Mulongo. The county partners present during the event were the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC), Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), The Institute for Social Accountability (TISA), Siaya County Youth Network (SCYN), National Social Security Fund (NSSF), Shining Hope for Communities (SHOFCO), Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB), and the Vihiga Youth Service Board.