PS Susan Mangeni Challenges MMUST Freshers to Focus on Economic Leadership and Private Sector Opportunities

LEADERSHIP FOCUS MSMEs Principal Secretary Susan Mangeni addresses Masinde Muliro University first-year students, urging them to embrace economic leadership and business enterprise

By Maximilla Wafula, Sub-Editor, The County Diary News

KAKAMEGA, KENYA - Principal Secretary for MSMEs Development, Hon. Susan Mangeni, has urged first-year students at Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology (MMUST) to shift their focus from political ambitions toward becoming economic and business leaders.

Speaking during an address to the incoming university cohort, PS Mangeni emphasized that nation-building requires entrepreneurial visionaries who can drive enterprise rather than relying solely on political office.

"The problem, professors, is that many people think leadership is only political," PS Mangeni stated. "Leadership is not only political we are looking for economic leaders."

In her speech, the Principal Secretary challenged the students to draw inspiration from notable business figures who built major industrial and commercial empires across the country, including late titans like Njenga Karume, enterprise pioneers like Ambwere, and corporate leaders like Manu Chandaria.

She noted with concern that while many young people express aspirations for political power, very few actively seek mentorship to become leaders in the corporate and private enterprise sectors.

"I am yet to get young people who are telling me, 'Madam PS, help me, I want to be a leader in the business sector like the late Njenga Karume,'" she remarked, urging the students to reorient their ambitions toward sustainable economic growth.

Addressing the practical hurdles facing young graduates entering the workforce, PS Mangeni announced a major government initiative designed to bridge the transition between academia and industry.

Through the upcoming NEXTGen Project, the government is expanding its national apprenticeship structure to provide paid internship opportunities for University and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) graduates directly within the private sector.

While previous government internship programs targeted public sector institutions, the new initiative aims to collaborate directly with private enterprises to offer hands-on, practical workplace experience.

"We want to expand that to the private sector so that we can take in as many of you as possible to gain hands-on experience," PS Mangeni explained.

Concluding her address with the call to action, "Kazi kwanza, siasa baadaye" (Work first, politics later), the PS urged the students to make full use of their academic years, prioritize practical skills, and build enterprises that contribute to the nation’s economic future.