Nairobi — President William Ruto on Tuesday announced that his administration will not revive the Kazi Mtaani program.

Speaking in Kibra constituency where he launched the Soweto East Zone B Social Housing Programme on Tuesday, the President said his administration will focus instead on affordable housing projects where residents especially the youth will be engaged.

"We have plans for our young people who reside here and I understand you have a problem with unemployment and I assure you that in this housing projects, all of you will be involved and you will not only earn a living from it but you will also have dignified place to call homes," President Ruto said.

The Head of State pointed out that the hygiene and beautification projects where youths were recruited to plant trees and collect garbage will be undertaken by the Nairobi County Government

"We will have enough job opportunities for our young people without using them to collect garbage. The garbage collection will be facilitated by Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja who will ensure that they are dumped in the respective dumpsites and maintain a clean city," said Ruto.

The Kazi Mtaani Program was initiated by former President Uhuru Kenyatta and launched in April 2020 as a local economic recovery initiative and a form of social protection mechanism designed to cushion the youth and vulnerable citizens in informal settlements from economic hardships.

In the first and second phases of the programme, over 280,000 youths were employed from 1,100 informal settlements in the 47 counties.

They planted trees, created access roads, rehabilitated public facilities, built public toilets, and cleaned informal settlements and rivers among other works.

Kazi Mtaani beneficiaries were operating in two shifts, each working for 11 days a month.

They were earning Sh455 per day, while supervisors earned Sh505 daily.