The government today will relaunch the NYS youth empowerment and slum upgrading projects in Kisumu county. The relaunch will be presided over by Gender and Youth Affairs PS Lilian Omollo and NYS director general Richard Ndubai in Obunga.
The National Youth Service projects, expected to benefit 6,000 youths, had stalled last year following the Sh791million theft scandal. Former Devolution CS Anne Waiguru resigned following a number of scandals in her ministry, which oversaw the NYS. County commissioner John Elungata said the NYS programmes that enlist youths for manual jobs will resume in Obunga, Manyatta and Nyalenda slums. He addressed the press yesterday.
Building police posts
Elungata said the government has new ways to revive the programmes. He said priority will be given to completing projects suspended five months ago. “We are also expecting new projects to be initiated to empower more youths,” he said.
The projects include environmental cleanup and dam construction. Others are agribusiness, where youths will be encouraged to practice urban farming and build fish ponds. The youth will build police posts in slums, as well as dispensaries.
“We want this project to empower our youth. We want leaders to support it so our youth reap maximum benefits because our aim is to improve the lives of all Kenyans,” Elungata said. He said in this second phase they aim to save Sh5.8 billion and directly benefit 260,000 youths.
“I want to assure the youth that this project was not a failure. For the five months that it was suspended we have learnt lessons, and so far all the budget [allocations] have been availed to kick off the program,” Elungata said. The county commissioner said crime has decreased.