A group of young people delivered a petition to Parliament yesterday asking Members of Parliament to assist them on loans that they were promised to be given in 2019.
The group which was led by Clement Misomali said they underwent training for job for youth project which was implemented by Malawi Government with funding from African Development Bank.
The youth were told that after three-month training they would be given start-up capital for their businesses but they are yet to get the money.
The delay prompted the grouping to seek help from many organizations to assist them on the matter.
“We are here to present our petition to Parliament knowing that they are the ones who approve national budgets. We are aware that the grants that government get come from international organisation and that is why we came here because we believe that they are going to help us,” he explained.
Member of Parliament for Mulanje Bale Victor Musowa received the petition on behalf of all members.
Musowa assured the petitioners that he is going to present the petition to the Secretariat so that the issue should appear on the order paper.
He went on to say that the matter at hand is very critical as such it needs an attention considering that the issue happened long time ago.
Jobs for Youth Project Coordinator at the Ministry of Youth and Sports Charles Kanyinji told Zodiak last year that some funds for the project were diverted to construction projects.
“In fact, we had this [provision of loans] in our plan but it was not an agreement with the youths but due to the project delays and lack of funds for civil works, the funds were diverted to construction of technical colleges,” said Kanyinji.
He added that some of the 3,000 youth who underwent the training were linked to National Economic Empowerment Fund (NEEF).
