More than 648 youth from Mandera county are set to benefit from the Kazi Mtaani initiative that was rolled out by the national government.
The programme, which was initiated by President Uhuru Kenyatta, will see unemployed youth paid after doing casual jobs such as bush clearing, town clean-ups, fumigation of public places, garbage collection and unblocking of sewers.
The casuals will be guided by roads engineers through the processes and keeping safe at work.
Area county commissioner Onesmus Kyatha, who launched the exercise in Mandera town on Wednesday, said it will assist youths who have been heavily affected by job cuts following the outbreak of Covid-19 in the country.
Kyatha noted that youths from Bulla Jamhuria and Shafshafey locations were the worst hit by the Covid-19 crisis.
“The youths were chosen from Bulla Jamhuria and Shafshafey locations by community policing elders. This programme will help them earn a living and they will be paid through mobile money (M-Pesa) after completing the tasks,” Kyatha said.
The beneficiaries have urged the government to expand the programme to employ more. Mohammed Ali said the programme is keeping them busy and helping them meet their basic needs.
He said the wider the programme, the more the youth will benefit.
Adan Abdi, another beneficiary, asked the government to extend the 20-day exercise until the end of the pandemic to enable them to get back to their normal economic activities.
Mohamed Ali thanked the government for coming up with such an initiative, which he said will not only sustain their livelihoods but also solve the problem of idleness.
The government has set aside a Sh5 billion kitty that will enable more youths to benefit in the second phase. This follows an increase in the number of people being infected by Covid 19 in the country.
Edited by Frank Obonyo
