Projects of troubled NYS to go on, says Uhuru
Members of the NYS follow proceedings during a Youth Summit at State House, Nairobi, on October 3, 2016. President Kenyatta said although the NYS, and the Youth Enterprise Development Fund (YEDF) had been dogged by corruption allegations, the solution was not to shut them down. PHOTO | EVANS HABIL | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- Public Service, Youth and Gender Cabinet Secretary Sicily Kariuki said now was not the time to punish the new officials.
- On Monday, the youth appealed to the President to relaunch the project.
Projects that have been dogged by controversy in the Youth ministry will not be stopped, President Uhuru Kenyatta has said.
Instead, said the President, the government will strengthen them to achieve more.
President Kenyatta said although the National Youth Service (NYS), and the Youth Enterprise Development Fund (YEDF) had been dogged by corruption allegations, the solution was not to shut them down.
The two projects have been in the limelight for the past one year, and have led to the resignation of Devolution Cabinet Secretary Anne Waiguru and YEDF chairman Bruce Odhiambo.
Staff and businesspeople who engaged with both projects are under investigation.
But on Monday, President Kenyatta asked Kenyans to support the projects.
“There were challenges (in those programmes), but we cannot throw (out) the baby with the bathwater. We know there are lives that have been changed through this programme. We must fix the problem, but we must encourage this programme,” said President Kenyatta at State House during the Youth Summit.
Public Service, Youth and Gender Cabinet Secretary Sicily Kariuki said now was not the time to punish the new officials.
She said her ministry would not accept to shoulder the burden of the perpetrators of the scandals.
“We do not want to be held captive by the mistakes that happened before we came. We take them as a lesson and the challenges and problems are now being fixed,” said Ms Kariuki.
Over 37,000 youth have been enrolled in the NYS projects. In the time the programme ran, Ms Kariuki said, the youth saved over Sh1.4 billion in the saccos.
On Monday, the youth appealed to the President to relaunch the project.
“Orezzo, kaDecember ndio hako. Turudishie works (Mr President, December is around the corner. Please give us back our (NYS) jobs,” Nairobi County NYS youth leader John Wainaina told President Kenyatta.
