Government extends Kazi Mtaani after youths plea

More than 280,000 youths have heaved a sigh of relief after the national government extended the National Hygiene Programme, popularly known as Kazi Mtaani.

This comes after beneficiaries across the country pleaded for an extension. The programme was to end on Thursday.

The announcement was made on Wednesday through a statement by Housing and Urban Development PS Charles Hinga.

“The development will bring a sigh of relief to over 280,000 youth engaged in the programme after an intervention by President Uhuru Kenyatta,” he said.

Two weeks ago while launching various development project in Nairobi, Uhuru pledged to extend the initiative after an appeal by the youths.

Many youths had decried their lives being at stake if it came to an end as they had solely been relying on it to support themselves and their families, hence ending it will put them out of work. 

Some noted that the programme had kept them away from the indulgence of criminal activities and drugs. 

At the moment, workers under the programme operate on two shifts of Cohort A and B, each working for 11 days a month.

All workers earn Sh455 per day, while the supervisors earn Sh505 per day.

In January this year, the initiative was extended by one month until March 4, following sustained lobbying by beneficiaries. Cohort 'A' workers resumed duty on February 3. 

PS Hinga noted that the success rate for payment to the youth through the M-Pesa platform has of late peaked at over 99 per cent, injecting over Sh700 million into the grassroots economy every two weeks.

He thanked regional coordinators, county implementation teams, the national multi-agency steering committee and all those involved for the milestone. 

The current phase is expected to involve the youth in works whose outcome is of a more permanent nature.

The Kazi Mtaani programme was initiated by the President in April last year as an economic stimulus for 900 informal settlements across 47 counties to mitigate Covid-19 shocks.

In July, Uhuru allocated Sh10 billion to employ 280,000 youths in 900 informal settlements across the 47 counties for Phase Two.

“Phase two of the hugely successful Covid-19 mitigation initiative, whose objective is to shore up hygiene and sanitation in informal settlements, as well as put food on the table for thousands of youths rendered jobless by the pandemic started in July last year with a budget of Sh10 billion,” Hinga added.

The PS also noted that the programme has had big progress from July last year when it was rocked by numerous complaints of delayed payments, sometimes caused by a mismatch of details provided by workers.

The activities undertaken include unclogging of drains, street cleaning, garbage collection, fumigation and rehabilitation of public facilities such as buildings, access roads, and walkways.

Tree growing and preparations of stabilised soil blocks for construction has also prominently featured.

Apart from the activities, it has been revealed that tens of thousands of youth have also received extensive training on life skills such as setting up businesses, HIV-Aids prevention, mental health and counselling, and basic skills in masonry and carpentry.

“Many of the youth have come forth with testimonials of the transformative impact of the programme as they have since been able to set up small thriving businesses,” Hinga noted.

-Edited by Sarah Kanyara