Friday, November 29, 2024 - President William Ruto has transferred the Kenya Innovation Agency (KENIA) from the Ministry of Education to his office in order to commercialize key innovation opportunities in the country.
Speaking during the opening of the Kenya
Innovation Week 2024 in Nairobi, Ruto announced that the decision stemmed from
a need to commercialize innovation activities especially those from higher
learning institutions.
Ruto announced that the directive will also
help the government track key innovation ideas and technologies
advanced by Kenyans.
''It becomes necessary that this agency moves
to a central place where we can harness all these opportunities and assist in
creating the momentum for job creation, I, therefore, instruct that the Kenya
Innovation Agency moves to the Office of the President,'' Ruto directed.
''Because of the cross-cutting nature of
innovation across different fields including agriculture, technology, and the
necessity to harness university education, it is therefore important to move it
to a central place,'' he added.
According to Ruto, the directive will
help the government, through the agency, to create more jobs for the youth even
as the country struggles with high unemployment rates.
''It is important that we harness the
opportunity in this space as part of our plan of making sure that we create
high-quality jobs for our youths,'' he added.
''It is easy for politicians to stand on top
of podiums and glorify unemployment, but it takes decisions and policy
frameworks, that is why we are taking such decisions to create jobs.''
The President also proposed an additional
Ksh500 million budgetary allocation to the agency to help it promote
the intake of innovative ideas noting that he will write a formal proposal to
Parliament.
The Kenyan DAILY POST
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