Take advantage of Kazi Mtaani, Garissa youth urged

Youths in Garissa have been challenged to take advantage of the extension of the Kazi Mtaani and similar programmes aimed at empowering them economically.

Speaking in Bula Iftin on Thursday during the launch of the programme, Garissa subcounty deputy county commissioner Solomon Chesut urged the youth not to let the opportunity pass them.

Chesut said the programme had not only helped youth earn but had also helped in reducing petty crime since the youth were engaged most of the time.

“This is one of the programmes the government has come up with to engage and empower our youth to keep them off the streets and avoid being lured into crimes,” he said.

“There are several other programmes in the ministries such as the youth enterprise funds that have assisted youth in accessing funding to assist them come up with own business instead of depending white colour jobs that are hard to come by,” he added.

The administrator also used the opportunity to warn those who will be absorbed in the programme against absconding from duty saying such individuals will be immediately discontinued and replaced by others.

The government extended the National Hygiene Programme, popularly known as Kazi Mtaani, after President Uhuru Kenyatta promised the youth he will do so.

The plan that is in its third phase, was unveiled by the President in 2020 and is meant to provide social protection for workers whose prospects for daily or casual work had been disrupted by the containment measures put in place to limit the spread of Covid-19.

Through this initiative, residents are recruited to undertake projects concentrated in and around informal settlements with the aim of improving the environment, service delivery and providing income generation opportunities.

The workers are divided into groups or cohorts where each individual earns Sh450 per day for 11 days while their supervisors earn Sh505 per day for 22 days in a month. They are paid through M-Pesa.

Chesut said the objective of the programme is to provide a form of social protection not only to the youth but those who are vulnerable in the society.

Garissa OCPD James Ng’etich emphasised on the need to have the youth engaged noting ‘that the programme was the right avenue to not only earn money but also get engaged’.

“We all know what idleness can do to the mind, and so having this programme is a sure way of engaging our youth and in the end we will reduce crime. Let us all take advantage of it,” he said.

Cases of petty crime have been on the rise in Garissa town and its environs with residents blaming the police for doing little to address the matter. The youth are blamed for the menace.

Ngetich however warned those engaged in the crime saying security apparatus were closing in on those behind the acts and that they will be arrested and taken to court.

-Edited by SKanyara