The National Assembly’s Budget and Appropriations Committee has significantly slashed funding for the Kazi Mtaani Programme in its report tabled to Parliament.
Last year, Cabinet Secretary of Finance, Ukur Yatani announced that the treasury had allocated an additional Ksh. 3 billion to the programme.
“Youth working under the Kazi Mtaani Programme will be smiling to the bank after Treasury allocated them an additional ksh 3 billion in what is aimed at keeping the youths that might be affected by the Covid-19 pandemic at work.” during the 2021/22 budget reading.
The programme, which started with a budget of Ksh.10 billion employed 283,210 youths as a National initiative to cushion the most vulnerable but able-bodied citizens living in informal settlements from the effects and response strategies of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The third phase is expected to run until June 2022 and will be implemented in over 900 informal settlements across the 47 counties.
Slashing of the Kazi Mtaani coffer signals the kind of struggle the National Treasury is having to balance its sheet and might inject irk among millions of Kenyan youth who had banked on the initiative to earn a living.
Over a million youth in the country had registered for the Kazi Mtaani programme, painting a clear picture of how vulnerable the Kenya youth are, searching for jobs.
State Department of Housing and Urban Development’s data showed that 128,613 people are registering for the programme every day.
The government began the third phase of the initiative in November last year to provide more job opportunities to the youth countrywide.
It aims to factor in at least 3,400 experienced, semi-skilled, and inexperienced youth across all 47 counties.
The opportunities include construction works to complete previously stalled economic stimulus program market, construction works using Appropriate Building Materials and Technologies (ABMT), construction of hostels in selected TVETS, and construction works to remove asbestos roofing in government estates.
