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Kenya PM wants youth projects prioritised

NAIROBI, Kenya Nov 24 – The government has directed all the 11 ministries participating in the Kazi Kwa Vijana programme to re-examine their budgets and give priority to projects that support the youth programme.

Prime Minister Raila Odinga, speaking during the third meeting of the Kazi Kwa Vijana Programme National Steering Committee meeting also asked the ministries to ensure the money goes into paying salaries of the youths and not on administrative expenses.

The PM also announced that the World Bank had agreed to partner with the government on the KKV programme and provide funding to the tune of $48.5 billion under the Kenya Youth empowerment Project-World Bank.

The funding is to come in three components with the first targeting labour intensive works and social services that will cost $31.5 million over a four year period.

The project targets unemployed young men and women and will help expand the KKV program.

The second component, costing $15.5 million will see KKV move from being a blue-collar jobs programme and will finance private sector internship and training programmes for the youth.

The third component will target Capacity Building and Policy development and will cost $1.5 million.

During the meeting also attended by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Uhuru Kenyatta, the Treasury reported that it has released Sh3.1 billion out of the Sh7.4 billion meant for Kazi Kwa Vijana in the 2009-2010 Financial Year.

The Finance Minister said the rest of the money would be released progressively in due course.

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Mr Odinga directed the participating ministries that where there is a shortfall, they rework their budgets to accommodate Kazi Kwa Vijana projects.

The PM directed the accounting officers to ensure KKV projects are prioritised.

During the meeting, all the ministries confirmed that they had received their share of the Sh3.1 billion for KKV and the programme will roll out on the ground soon.

The Steering Committee reported that so far, about Sh2.5 billion has been spent on the programme, generating employment of 297,861 youth out of a target of 232,911.

The PM noted that out of the disbursed amount, about Sh1.4 billion was been paid out as wages to the youth and directed that more money be spent on wages than on other administrative matters.

The committee noted that the programme has generated excitement and enthusiasm among the youth, but has weaknesses that have to be addressed.
The PM said the weaknesses include the poor monitoring of the programme and the lack of proper coding of the KKV programme in the 2009/10 budget that has led to the near-stalling of most of the KKV programmes.

To address these issues, the PM directed that in the second phase of the programme, the local communities – MPs, elders, chiefs, and youth leaders – be fully involved in the selection and design of KKV projects as provided for in the operational manual of the KKV Programme.

Ministers Fred Gumo, Wycliffe Opranya, Mohamed Elmi, Franklin Bett attended the meeting alongside permanent secretaries from other participating ministries.

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