YOUTHS RESUME TUESDAY

End of delay as State to pay Sh554m to Kazi Mtaani youths

The delay was occasioned by the financial year administration challenges - PS Hinga.

In Summary

• PS Hinga further cautioned that the amounts to be received would not be uniform as there were differences in days worked.

•Kazi Mtaani is a national initiative launched in April 2020 to cushion the most vulnerable but able-bodied citizens living in informal settlements from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Kazi Mtaani workers clean Katwekera in Nairobi's Kibera on July 16, 2021
Kazi Mtaani workers clean Katwekera in Nairobi's Kibera on July 16, 2021

The long wait is over as the government is set to pay Sh 554 million to 164,372 youths involved in the Kazi Mtaani Programme.

The delay, according to the State Department of Housing was occasioned by the financial year administration challenges.

Housing PS Charles Hinga made the announcement on Friday, revealing that the payment was for the Kazi Mtaani youths that worked in Cohort one.

“To all the Kazi Mtaani youths that worked in Cohort one, money is on the way as per the schedule. 164,372 youths will receive a total of Sh554m,” he said.

About 31,310 youths whose ID match but name mismatch will get Sh111.4 million while  5,090 whose ID mismatch but names match will get Sh 16.6 million.

Image: PS Hinga

PS Hinga further cautioned that the amounts to be received would not be uniform as there were differences in days worked.

However, from next week Tuesday, the government will streamline things for efficiency, he said.

Also for the youths who have disputes, they have been urged to address them to their leadership teams

“For those with disputes on the number of days worked, kindly address them with your leadership teams as we pay based on the registers we receive from them.,” Hinga added.

Kazi Mtaani is a national initiative launched in April 2020 to cushion the most vulnerable but able-bodied citizens living in informal settlements from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The programme targets people from 18 years to 35.

The programme, which started with a budget of Sh10 billion, employed 283,210 youths in 900 informal settlements across the 47 counties.

It targeted residents of informal settlements who are above eighteen years of age and below 35 years, who are unable to find work due to the disruption of normal economic activity by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The program has made a great impact on the youths lives as it has transformed their lives in all dimensions by creating job opportunities and this has helped reduce the crime rate in society.

Last year, the State launched Kazi Mtaani Registration Website (KMR)  where interested persons were to register for the programme.

KMR is a mobile and web-based system developed by the Government of Kenya to register and manage Kazi Mtaani.

The online portal will ensure those interested are registered in a timely, transparent and efficient manner that will be equitable across the board.

The web application will be used to register, process the data received from the mobile application, payments and reports.

Phase three has 533,608 youths.

Only 50 per cent of youths who were in the phase two programme are still in the third phase.

Some 278,736 youths had been employed from all the counties during phase two of the programme, which ended in June last year.

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