Uhuru Kenyatta orders officials sacked for delaying pay to youth, women suppliers

President Uhuru Kenyatta has ordered Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich to sack procurement officers who have delayed payments to youth, women and disabled government suppliers.

The President said the Treasury should ensure suppliers have been paid and not hide in the fact that they have released funds to the ministries.

“The Access to Government Opportunities for the youth is law, it is no longer a policy. It is not an issue of 'I will when I want, or I won't when I want,'" the President said during the Youth Summit held at State House in Nairobi on Monday.

Mr Kenyatta said there are cases where businesses started by young people have collapsed because government departments are not paying them for supplies.

"Once this report [on government departments delaying payments] comes out , I assure you that you will not hide and you will not be transferred," he said

President Kenyatta also said National Youth Service (NYS) projects would go on.

He said the projects had challenges but they would be addressed.

"There were challenges [in the NYS], but we cannot throw [out] the baby with the bathwater. We know there are lives that have been changed from this programme. We must fix the problem, but we must encourage this programme," he said.