‘It’s an insult to youths!’ Ruto pokes holes in Kazi Mtaani initiative
Deputy President William Ruto has distanced himself from the Kazi Mtaani initiative saying the young people deserve better jobs from the government.
Speaking during an interview on a local TV station Sunday night, the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party presidential candidate claimed the program was rolled out to hoodwink the young generation ahead of the August General election.
He said senior government officials who sabotaged the Big 4 Agenda and the Jubilee Administration's Housing plan are to blame for the employment crisis in the country.
"The officials want a situation where we have all these desperate young people who are easy to manipulate. That is why today we have you have this Kazi Mtaani thing. It's really insulting to the young people of our nation that you sabotage the program of housing and value addition that would have given decent jobs and then because there is an election you have rolled out Kazi Mtaani," Ruto said.
Ruto graft claims
The Kenya Kwanza coalition leader alleged that there is a deliberate attempt to steal even the little set aside for the youth.
"...You want to pay young people Ksh1,000, I hear now it's not even Ksh,1000 because someone has run away with Ksh500," he added.
The Kazi Mtaani initiative was launched in April 2020, to cushion the youth living in informal settlements from the adverse effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on the economy. The government engaged the youth in street cleaning activities to eke a living after most of them lost their jobs.
Phase three of the program is expected to be rolled out soon after a long delay.
Housing Principal Secretary (PS) Charles Hinga had indicated that the exercise was expected to kick off on March 1.
He said the government was still waiting for the National Assembly to pass its Supplementary Budget before the programme resumes.
“To all Kazi Mtaani youths, the supplementary budget was tabled in parliament last week, there are a few procedural issues to deal with but there is now light at the end of the tunnel,” the PS said in a tweet in February.
“I can’t tell exactly how long it will take but +/- 2 weeks so realistically, let’s aim for 1st March.”
The PS confirmed that the National Treasury had allocated Ksh10 billion for the program as directed by President Uhuru Kenyatta in October 2021.
A total of 1,158,893 youths applied for the jobs.
