The government is committed to connecting 25,000 local markets to WiFi countrywide that will be accessed freely.
This is according to ICT CS Eliud Owalo who explains that the move will promote e-commerce alongside solving the unemployment problems among the youths across the country.
Speaking on Thursday when he presided over the launch of free public WIFI hotspots at Masii open-air market in Mwala, Machakos County, CS Owalo noted that ICT will help the youth do business and seek employment globally since white-collar jobs are currently scarce.
“It’s one of the strategies of supporting youths and women thereby realizing the ‘bottom up’ dream. We want to use the internet to help the common mwananchi,” Owalo said.
The CS also said all the 1, 450 wards in the country will be provided with digital hubs and that each ward will have at least a hub, courtesy of President William Ruto’s administration.
“During the campaign period, President William Ruto and his deputy Rigathi Gachagua among other leaders traversed the country listening to the problems citizens face. Kenyans complained about the high costs of data bundles and asked the government for free WiFi,” he added.
Owalo was accompanied by his Foreign Affairs counterpart Alfred Mutua and hosted by both Machakos County Commissioner Josephine Ouko and Mwala MP Vincent Musyoka.
