Rachel Ruto Launches 83rd Jitume Digital Hub in Butere Girls  

By Mary Owano 

Kenya's First Lady, Rachel Ruto, on Monday, 10th June 2024, launched the 83rd Jitume Digital Hub at Butere Girls High School in Kakamega County. This project is aimed at digitizing the entire country. 

While speaking during the launch, the First Lady said that full implementation of the Jitume Digital Hub is going to spur a wave of digital jobs across the nation, with the project having over 28000 users, over 8700 courses enrolled, and 118 digital job platforms created.

"The World Economic Forum Future of Jobs report of 2016 spelled out a challenging future for the digitally unfit and a great opportunity for the digitally fit. Experts predicted that technology and automation would cause the global workforce to lose two thirds of traditionally white-collar jobs in the coming years. This forecast saw governments and organizations globally prepare for this digital revolution to ensure young people were ready for the job market and responsive to new job opportunities," said Rachel Ruto.

She hailed the importance of the project in providing students with relevant skills that will prepare them for a digital future, especially now that the country is gearing towards the fourth revolution. 

"We now live in the era of generative artificial intelligence where technology enables our work and spurs efficiency. We need to be ready for this new era," she added. 

However, she cautioned the students against cybercrime and cyberbullying. 

"Every student should exercise personal responsibility and self-discipline ensuring that their computer time is productive and contributes to their desired future," she asserted.

First Lady Rachel Ruto interacting with students at Butere Girls High School

The Cabinet Secretary in the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Digital Economy, Eliud Owalo, who also attended the launch, said that they would collaborate with the Kenya Power and Lighting Company to distribute the internet connectivity to all parts of the country through its transmission lines. 

"We are going to take the process all over the country. As we speak we have changed the model of rolling out the faiba. As opposed to digging out the trenches, we are now going to use the Kenya power transmission lines to help us take faiba connectivity to all parts of the country," he noted. 

"We have also managed to set up 203 institutions and deployed a total of 13,000 devices in these institutions, we have managed to train a total of 490,000 youths over the past year, and we have created 139000 digital jobs which are meant to curb the unemployment crisis currently being experienced in the country," added Owalo.

Owalo further revealed that President William Ruto had instructed the ministry to ensure that digital hubs are set in every ward in the country in the bid to equip youths at the grassroots with ICT skills and connect them to digital jobs.

The CS also noted that this project is a move to boost government services available on digital platforms. 

"Currently 16,892 services on e -citizen which will enable citizens access all the government services from whichever places they are without physically having to visit government offices," he said.