Kenyan Members of Parliament (MPs) want the Kazi Mtaani initiative launched by President Uhuru Kenyatta scrapped saying it was poorly planned and is just an avenue to steal via corruption the taxpayers’ money.
The MPs told Ukur Yatani, the Treasury Cabinet Secretary that the initiative did not make sense and that the government needs to go back to the drawing board in “a bid to structure the project in an efficient way”.
The lawmakers complain that the initiative has been marred with discrepancies with majority of the youth especially in the constituencies being locked out of the programme which in turn has led to more division among the youth due to the exclusion of others.
“When you go to the constituency, the youth are doing drainage today, the following day they do the same thing. Imagine if we can use these young people to make desks or something that we can measure the output or utilize their skills effectively?” questioned the Deputy Speaker Moses Cheboi.
Chairman Budget and Appropriation committee Kanini Kega also argued that the program was not sustainable and there is a need for a change of plan. “We need to think about how we can sustain the program beyond the recommended period.”
However, the Treasury CS maintained that the program will continue until the end of the year as planned in order to assist the youth get back to their feet after the effects of covid-19. “We have put up accountability measures that that will be rolled out soon so that the program can continue until the economy stabilized and the people can go back to their jobs.”
This comes after a group representing young people raised concerns over alleged mismanagement of the Kazi Mtaani programme, accusing some government officials of disengaging and disregarding the youth.
National Youth Council (NYC) Nairobi delegates noted that the national government has not been true to its word on the payments under the programme saying they received only half what they were owed with the rest dissappearing.
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