Please don't, Ruto pleads with ticketless Harambee Stars fans

President William Ruto has called on Harambee Stars fans to maintain discipline during the team's Sunday match against Zambia at the Kasarani Stadium in Nairobi.

While saying the team has done the country proud with their impressive run at the African Nations Championship competition, popularly known as CHAN, Ruto called on the fans to be in their best behavior as well.

"Fans and the people of Kenya, you have done a tremendous job cheering Harambee Stars, but we must do so within the parameters of the Confederation of African Football (CAF)," he said.

He made the remarks today when he addressed a delegation of leaders from Kisii and Nyamira counties at State House, Nairobi.

He urged fans without tickets to enjoy the match at the public viewing arenas that have been set up across the city by Nairobi County government.

The president was responding to the chaotic scenes witnessed during Harambee Stars match versus Morocco, which saw rogue supporters breach Kasarani's security.

A victory for Harambee Stars on Sunday will be an added advantage although they have already secured a place to the quarter-finals.

The team was in group A alongside Zambia, Angola, Morocco and DR Congo.

During the Friday event at State House, President Ruto announced that more than 90,000 Form Four and Standard Eight leavers will benefit from a new government initiative to train and equip them with skills to prepare them for the job market.

The youth will be drawn from all the wards across the country and will be paid a monthly stipend of Sh6,000 per, the President said.

This, he explained, is part of the government's broader interventions to address the crisis of youth unemployment.

"We must have a deliberate plan for our youth, so that politicians do not taken advantage of our youth," he said.

He urged the youth to register to the National Youth Opportunities Towards Advancement (Nyota) program, another new government initiative to empower 100,000 youth with Sh50,000 each to start or boost businesses.

He also called on them to embrace the government's labour mobility program, which he said has connected over 440,000 Kenyans with job opportunities abroad over the past two years. 

"Many international companies are looking for workers from Kenya because we have the best human resource. We have signed many labour mobility agreements with many countries, take advantage of them," he said.

He said the government has structured and streamlined the labour mobility space, revoking over 1,000 of rogue agencies in the process.

He lauded Kisii County for taking the lead in embracing the labour mobility program, followed by Kiambu and Kakamega.

President Ruto said the government will double the number of youth working the Affordable Housing Program from the current 340,000 to 640,000 in the next two months.

This, he explained, will not only scale up the construction of the houses around the country, but also create more job opportunities for the youth.

"We will be hiring over 10,000 supervisors from our Technical and Vocational Education Training institutions to work on this project," he said.

The President said Kisii and Nyamira counties have been allocated KSh11and KSh7 billion respectively for the construction of affordable houses in the two counties.

The President said the government will relocate Kisii Main Prison from the central business district, freeing up over 20 acres for the town's expansion, including providing more land for affordable housing projects.

Further, he said the government is constructing 7,640 student hostels in Nyamira at a cost of Sh3.8 billion.

On roads, he said the government will soon release Sh70 billion to clear pending bills, on top on the Sh60 billion already disbursed.

He added that the government has secured another Sh120 billion to complete all pending road projects across the country within the next one and half years.

Moreover, he said the government is currently constructing four modern markets in Kisii County at a cost of Sh500 in Kisii County, with 16 others in the pipeline.

On health, President Ruto urged leaders from the two counties to encourage their people to register with the Social Health Authority, pointing out that 42 per cent of Kisii residents and 46 per cent in Nyamira are currently enrolled in the program.

President Ruto assured the leaders that the government will soon get a new contractor for the stalled Kisii Cancer Centre.

He also announced that, on advice from aviation experts, the government has settled on expanding Suneka Airstrip in Kisii County after failing to get suitable land to construct a new one in Sironga in Nyamira.

"I have instructed the Ministry of Roads and Transport to reinstate Suneka and do their best to modernise it as soon as possible," he said.