The group of professionals and successful businessmen have come together under the Imenti Development Forum (IDF) to transform sleepy villages in Meru County into digital world by donating computers in ICT hubs.
Under the IDF umbrella, the group helps communities through sponsoring programs to uplift livelihood programs.
According to stakeholders, the forum was founded to address three major gaps within the Imenti region including the challenges facing the boy child, the declining education standards and national representation.
Over the weekend the group commissioned two ICT hubs with 14 computers each at St Matthews MCK and Ngiine Day Secondary school.
The Ngiine day secondary school project is the fourth and final one under the forum’s first phase, which has focused on empowering the region through ICT hubs.
The commissioning brought together Meru County leaders including Deputy Governor Linda Kiome, Sports, gender and Culture CECM Elias Murega among other local leaders.
Led by their patron lawyer Mugambi Imanyara and Chairman Charles Mbogori together with other officials, the professionals vowed to intensify the campaign claiming many youths have sunk into alcoholism.
The group first commissioned 14 computers at St Matthews MCK Buuri and then proceeded to commission 14 others in Ngiine secondary school in North Imenti constituency, and it is aiming for digital revolution and have vowed to transform villages into a thriving technology hub to unlock digital opportunities.
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According to patron Imanyara, IDF is spearheading the creation of a state-of-the-art ICT Centres in Imenti region in a bid to bridge the gap between rural life and urban digital world.
“We started this initiative with the focus of transforming the community where the digital world is sleepy. We connect the people especially the youths in the rural areas with the internet and unlock the opportunities which come with the digital world,”said Imanyara.
Speaking at respectively where they launched two digital hubs, Imanyara emphasized that the center is not just about browsing but a Launchpad for education, employment, and farming empowerment.
IDF Chairman Dr. Kairu Magambo said they will also start taking the initiative to other areas of Meru County.
“Soon we will roll out the program in other parts of the county and not base only in Imenti. We want children from Igembe and Tigania also to benefit,” Magambo said.
He said they wanted to bring the world closer to the people and are rooting for empowerment of the boy child through ICT Hubs.
“We started in Ithimbari South Imenti constituency and in Kithima and today we are in Ngiine Secondary School. We have put up computers and renovated the premises to make ICT hubs conducive. Learners can come to the hubs to do research, learn and achieve their goals in different careers,” Magambo said.
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He said they will do valuation to see if the project is creating impact in the community.
Dr.Magambo empasized the importance of ICT in transforming lives, particularly for young men and women seeking to find their footing in an increasingly digital world.
He explained that the forum had identified ICT as the entry point for empowerment because of its potential to connect learners to opportunities beyond Meru.
He added that the hubs were not just about giving students access to computers but also about providing training and innovation opportunities.
He noted that with facilities like the one launched in Ngiine, students would be able to carry out research, sharpen their digital skills, and even pursue advanced academic or professional qualifications.
Meru Deputy Governor Lindah Kiome, applauded the initiative and said it directly complemented the government’s efforts to expand access to education.
She pledged to ensure that the new lab was connected to the internet so that students could begin using it immediately.
“I know that the computers have already been brought and as the chairman has said, there’s no router. I’ll leave twenty Ksh20,000 here to help get a router so that the computers can be working by Monday,” said Linda.
Principle assistance communication in the office of the Deputy President Muthaura Njogu challenged the youths to take advantage of the ICT hubs, saying it a doorway to global job opportunities and digital literacy.
“Our aim is to help our community to connect the other world. Not everybody is able to access the digital opportunities. We want even the most disadvantaged child to benefit and access technology. That is our dream”, said muthaura.
By John Majau.
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