Kibicho Denies Gov’t is Shortchanging Kazi Mtaani Youth

NAIROBI, Kenya, Jun, 14 – Interior Principal Secretary Karanja Kibicho has refuted claims that the government is underpaying youth hired under Kazi Kwa Vijana and diverting the money for campaigns.He said contrary to claims by a section of politicians, the Ksh450 that is paid daily to the youth engaged under the National Hygiene Program is the amount that has been budgeted for and that has been paid to recipients since its launch in 2020.

The PS challenged Mathira MP Rigathi Gachagua and other MPs who have claimed that the National Assembly had budgeted at least Ksh1,000 in daily allowance to each youth engaged in the program across the country to table supporting evidence.

“I would want them to produce the Hansard report confirming their argument that indeed, MPs legislated the amount they claim. This should be fairly easy to prove as the National Assembly is a House of records,” the PS said.

The PS who was talking on Kameme FM said the 530,608 youth who have been engaged under the program have been receiving the same amount since the Kazi Mtaani was launched to combat the spread of the Covid-19 and to mitigate the loss of jobs and the economic downturn triggered by the pandemic.

The government plans to spend Ksh5 billion under the ongoing program that engages the youth in labor-intensive activities such as clean up in urban centers and the construction of publicfunded infrastructure projects.

The latest budget will push the total expenditure under the program to Ksh21 billion. The PS further refuted allegations that the program was being used to lure votes into supporting the Azimio presidential candidate saying its rollout was decentralized and the recruitment of the beneficiaries was undertaken at the grassroots across the country.

“How is it possible to know which youth is allied to which politician as a condition to getting these jobs? These recruitments are being undertaken at the lowest level of administration by chiefs and their assistants who are best placed to know the most deserving for the available slots,” the PS said.

The PS who also chairs the technical committee on implementation of national government projects also denied allegations that money collected under the Covid-19 fund that was intended to purchase relief food for the vulnerable families had been diverted and/or looted.

Contrary to the allegations, the PS explained that funds had been shared among deserving families through cash transfers after the kitty administrators opted to send money directly to cut on logistics costs and to allow recipients determine their priorities.

“The reasoning was that rather than spend at least 30% of the allocations on the logistics of transporting relief supplies, why not send the money directly to the most vulnerable so that they can then align the cash with their most urgent necessity,” the PS said