The Safaricom Foundation has opened a furnished computer lab in Shinyalu, Kakamega County. The centre, Shikusa Borstal Institution, is a youth corrective training centre. Safaricom has also availed 30 computers, with eager youths already commencing training. Speaking after the opening, Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa said although the company is a commercial business, their objective is to reach communities across the country and transform lives.
He said education is key and urged the youths receiving training to use the opportunity well, “Digital skill, computer skill, ICT skill are the future. So if you can study and use these computers that Safaricom Foundation has provided, when you go out there, you’ll be better off,” he said. He urged them to be proud that they have been afforded the chance.
The Safaricom CEO also met Kakamega Governor Wycliffe Oparanya, and the two discussed various areas of interest. Oparanya urged Safaricom to provide assistance in digitizing County services, in different sectors like agriculture and health care. “In the area of agriculture, we have a program of farm inputs for our small scale farmers, that’s an area we need to digitize so that it’s easier to communicate with the farmers,” he said, speaking to the press after the meeting. He further stated that the Oparanya care maternal program should be digitized, to make it easier to reach the 40,000 mothers in the program.
