Garissa county has launched the Kazi Mtaani National Hygiene Programme (NHP) initiative to give youths a source of income.
The countrywide programme being implemented jointly by the national and the county governments will benefit some 3,000 youths from Garissa.
Garissa county commissioner Mwangi Meru said the programme initiated by President Uhuru Kenyatta targets youths within Garissa Municipality and other major towns in the subcounties who have suffered job losses following the outbreak of Covid-19.
"Chiefs and their assistants are under firm instructions to ensure that Nyumba Kumi clusters only forward names of genuine cases for consideration into the programme. We will not condone corruption and nepotism in hiring youth into the NHP programme,” Meru said.
The youths will be paid Sh455 per day for a total of 11 days every month. Their wages will be wired to them every end of the week via mobile money.
Their job will include paving access paths, street cleaning, fumigation and disinfection of public areas, garbage collection, bush clearance and unclogging drainages.
County Secretary Abdi Sheikh called on youths to take advantage of the programme to earn some cash during this pandemic and stop dependence on their families.
"This is a noble initiative that will provide social relief by providing jobs and facilitating hygiene interventions to help contain the Covid-19 pandemic while at the same time our towns will get an environmental and sanitation facelift," the CS said.
The programme is expected to commence this month with recruitment being done at the grassroots by committees headed by chiefs and their assistants.
Present during the occasion was Garissa deputy county commissioner Samuel Njuguna, Lands and Public Works CEC Abdi Omar, Garissa Municipality CEO Abdi Shale and representatives from the Department of Youth, KeRRA, KURA and the Ministry of Education.
Edited by Henry Makori
