- Odhiambo said the show clearly proved there are talented youth who only need to be empowered to become better
- Apart from the art, he said he is organising a soccer tournament with two other MCAs from Kakuyuni and Ganda ward
Youth in Malindi have launched a noble initiative to nurture and promote talents to help transform their lives and stop relying on formal jobs for an income.
The youth organised a talent competition dubbed the ‘Itika Show’ that brought together different talents to showcase their capabilities at the Cleopatra grounds in Malindi.
Their aim is to ensure youth identify and nurture their talents at an early age so as to grow and prevent them from engaging in drug abuse and other unlawful activities.
Their initiative got a major boost after the Malindi Town MCA Rashid Odhiambo volunteered to support them financially to make the show a success and boost their morale.
Odhiambo also attended the show where different performances from acrobatic shows, music, dances, poems, comedians, among many others were showcased, and assured them of his support in ensuring talents are nurtured.
The MCA said such talent shows were important, adding that there are so many opportunities in the digital era where one is able to showcase his talent and earn an income from it.
He urged parents to monitor their children particularly during this long holiday and make sure they are kept busy to prevent them from engaging in unlawful activities such as drug abuse and crime.
“We have a long holiday until next year when schools reopen, we need to lay out plans to ensure our children are kept busy with activities that will help them in their lives. We must make sure our youth are not hooked into drug abuse, crime or loitering carelessly," he said.
Odhiambo said the show clearly proved there are talented youth who only need to be empowered to become better.
Apart from the art, he said he is organising a soccer tournament with two other MCAs from Kakuyuni and Ganda ward, where the winning team will be given Sh100,000 and a one-week trip to Zanzibar.
He called on President William Ruto to ensure MCAs are given their autonomy to enable them manage their own projects and funds without being interfered with.
“We want the MCA office to be independent to enable us to work without being pushed or forced by external forces. I am happy that the Senate is working on it."
Santana Vitalis Alias Youth President who is an artist, said the event brought different kinds of talents from comedians, singers, rappers, dancers among others, aimed at uplifting talents in Malindi.
He said previous regime was not supporting talents but thanked the MCA for supporting them, saying the move would help them improve their talents.
“If you look at Churchill, he has been able to employ so many artistes who were earning a living and that’s our vision here in Malindi,” he said.
Vitalis called on all the leaders from the President, Governor Gideon Mung’aro, MPs, and MCAs to ensure they support youth to nurture their talents to prevent them from engaging in drug abuse and crime.
He said the government is not able to employ all youth but by nurturing talents, it will be easy for them to transform their lives.
Osiro Musica, an artist from Malindi, called on the both the County and National government to support musicians on the digital space to transform their livelihoods.
He said winners of the Itika show competition will to get smartphones which they can use to market their work on the digital platforms.
“If the phone has over 120gb it will help the artiste post their work on TikTok , Youtube among other social media platforms,” he said.