Youth from informal settlements and poor backgrounds in Kajiado County will be given priority during the recruitment of persons to participate in the National Hygiene Programme popularly known as ‘Kazi Mtaani’.
The County Commissioner (CC), Joshua Nkanatha, said the programme launched by President Uhuru Kenyatta, will see 8,500 youth from the county who have been heavily affected by job cuts following the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic enrolled in the exercise.
Nkanatha said the recruitment process would be done in two municipalities: Kajiado North and Kajiado Central with Nyumba Kumi clusters tasked with identifying and generating lists of proposed beneficiaries.
The proposed names will then be forwarded to the sub-county committees for verification and validation, he added.
“A total of 7,266 youth will be enrolled for the programme in Kajiado North with another 1,234 from informal settlements in Kajiado Central benefitting from the exercise,” said Nkanatha.
He noted that the Kazi Mtaani Programme is a Social Protection exercise aimed at cushioning people mostly affected by the coronavirus pandemic and those already enlisted for the Cash Transfer Program were not eligible.
“We will ensure that those who benefit from the exercise will be the most vulnerable youth living in informal sectors. Those in other government schemes like the Cash Transfer Programme will not be eligible,” said the CC.
The Kajiado Central Deputy County Commissioner (DCC), Charles Wambugu who oversaw the recruitment exercise Monday, reiterated that the programme is aimed at creating jobs for the youth and cushioning them from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
He pointed out that a total of 1, 234 youth from Majengo slums in Kajiado Central Constituency will be enrolled for the exercise.
Wambugu said youth engaged in the exercise would be tasked with planting of trees, rehabilitating sections of roads destroyed by rains, cleaning up of public places, garbage collection, clearing bushes and unblocking sewerage lines among others.
“The Kazi Mtaani programme targets youth most affected by the pandemic. They will now be able to put food on the table as they will earn daily wages. In Kajiado Central Constituency, 1, 234 youth will benefit from the exercise,” he said
The DCC noted that payments would be made on a weekly basis through the M-pesa platform to avoid crowding and maintain social distancing as a way of curbing the spread of the coronavirus.
Wambugu urged the youth to utilize the money properly and save some of it so that they could have capital to engage in income generating activities.
Some of the youth who showed up for the recruitment exercise said they were hopeful that they would be enrolled adding that the programme was timely as they had been adversely affected financially by the coronavirus pandemic.
Anastacia Sankale, a resident of Majengo, said she has been struggling to feed her three children since she lost her job due to the pandemic.
Sankale added that the Kazi Mtaani programme would ensure that she and most of the youth who lost their jobs could now earn a living and put food on the table.
Mary Wamboi called for the Government to increase the number of days allocated for the exercise so as to enable the youth earn more and save some of the money.
“I am urging the government to set aside more days for the exercise as the 11 days are not sufficient. If more days are allocated, then we will be able to earn more money and even save some which we will invest,” said Wamboi
President Uhuru Kenyatta in May this year launched the Kazi Mtaani Initiative to help cushion youths with a daily income during the pandemic.
A total of 200,000 youth countrywide were expected to benefit from the programme with Sh.10 billion being set aside for the exercise.
By Rop Janet
