The Kazi Mtaani initiative, established by the Government of Kenya, targets marginalized communities facing poverty and unemployment challenges. Through labor-intensive methods, it aims to create sustainable public infrastructure in urban development sectors.
The onset of the Covid-19 pandemic exacerbated economic hardships, prompting the government to prioritize protecting vulnerable populations by offering them opportunities for employment and income generation.
Eligibility criteria for participation in the program include being a Kenyan citizen aged between 18 and 35, possessing a valid ID card, residing in the designated area of application, not benefiting from any government subsidy program, and having a registered phone number with M-Pesa for payment purposes. While academic qualifications such as KCSE or KCPE are not mandatory, applicants must demonstrate additional benefits and meet specific criteria to ensure fairness and inclusivity.
The primary goal of the Kazi Mtaani program is twofold: to empower youth by providing them with sustainable income-generating activities and to offer a form of social protection. By prioritizing labor-intensive approaches, the initiative aims to recruit as many young people as possible, thereby addressing both unemployment and poverty challenges.
Furthermore, the program seeks to stimulate local economies by utilizing local markets and suppliers for goods and services, fostering community development and cohesion.
Since its inception in April 2020, the program has been implemented in selected informal settlements across eight counties, including Nairobi, Mombasa, Mandera, Kwale, Kisumu, Kiambu, Nakuru, and Kilifi.
Initially, 26,000 young people were enlisted in the first phase, with subsequent expansions in the second phase to include 34 districts and recruit an additional 34,000 participants from informal settlements.
As part of the State Department of Youth Affairs, the program also provides ongoing education and skills training to enhance participants’ employability and long-term prospects.
To apply for the Kazi Mtaani program, individuals can register online through the official portal of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or submit their applications to the designated offices.
The online application process is facilitated through the Kazi Mtaani Management System (KMS), a mobile and web-based platform developed by the government to streamline registration and recruitment processes. Applicants are required to provide accurate personal information, ensuring consistency with their ID and M-Pesa details, and follow the prescribed steps outlined on the platform.
Upon successful registration, participants are integrated into various urban development projects, contributing to the construction of vital infrastructure such as roads, bridges, and sanitation facilities.
The KMS platform records and tracks workers’ attendance through clock-in and clock-out functionalities, ensuring accountability and transparency in project management and remuneration processes.
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KEY SUCCESSES OF THE KAZI MTAANI
PROGRAM
• Job Creation: Kazi Mtaani has provided
jobs for many youths since a person has to be in the age bracket of 18-35 years to be recruited.
What started out as a measure to deal with the pandemic turned out to play
a much bigger role in so far as creating job opportunities and providing a model that can be replicated in order to deal with the massive unemployment problem in the country
• Environmental Conservation: The youth have collected and cleaned garbage in their neighborhood. Trees have been planted in the neighborhoods and drainages have been unclogged.
• Youth Empowerment: Youths were able to meet their basic needs and help their families for example paying rent and buying food.
• Reduction of Crime: Crime has been
reduced in those neighborhoods. It has
also kept the youth from drugs, alcohol and immorality.
• Debt Reduction: Safaricom PLC waived the recovery of Fuliza loans for the youths in the program that have been indebted.
• Cushioned Jobless Youth: Kazi Mtaani has cushioned jobless youths economically by paying them Sh455 and their supervisors Sh505 a day via M-Pesa for purposes of transparency and accountability.
• Entrepreneurship: Participants were able to freely withdraw their earnings once paid and some were able to start small businesses
KEY CHALLENGES OF THE KAZI
MTAANI PROGRAM:
• Delayed Payments: Delayed payments to the Kazi Mtaani beneficiaries.
• Favoritism in the recruitment process. In some areas, the youth have protested against favoritism in the Kazi Mtaani program.
Accusations of nepotism and bribery in the hiring of youth.
• Protective Gear: The youth were not provided with proper tools and protective gear which exposed them to injuries and diseases.
• Lack of Transparency and Accountability:
Many youths were being hired after
committing to share their daily wages with chiefs.
• Equality of Opportunity: Strangers from other regions being employed thus limiting the job opportunities for the youth in the area that they are supposed to be employed.
• Recruitment Process Challenges: The
recruitment process is not free and fair at all in some areas. Names being removed at the last minute after successful acceptance into the program.
• Few Job Opportunities: A large number of applications but fewer job opportunities.
Elements of the Kazi Mtaani Programme
Daily work for wages:
The program aims to provide daily wages for youth workers particularly living in informal settlements,
and who play a critical role in spurring economic activity within and around informal settlements and
by extension, informal businesses.
Labour intensive approaches
The labour intense public works strategy that underpins the program aims to employ unskilled and semiskilled labour of unemployed youth using local material and locally sourced equipment.
Utilization of existing or redirected funding
The program will utilize existing or redirected funding from Government’s ministries, departments, and
agencies (MDAs) as well as suitable donor-funded programs to support the execution of the select EPWP projects.
Equal opportunities
The program provides opportunities for citizens between the ages of eighteen (18) and thirty-five (35) of all genders, provided they reside within the boundaries of the identified and defined informal settlement sites.
Kazi Mtaani Projects
Construction of Public and Social facilities
To include low cost construction of schools, health facilities, markets, community halls, pocket parks,
cemeteries, mortuaries and fire stations.
Construction and upgrade of Access roads
To include low cost road construction methods, storm water drainage construction; Bridge and culvert construction.
Construction and Upgrade of Non-Motorised Transport (NMT)
To include low cost paving of pedestrian walkways, painting cycle lanes, creating and repairing footbridges.
Upgrade and Small Maintenance Works for Public offices
To include low cost repairs and upgrade works on government estates that need: landscaping, greening, painting, plumbing, external walls cleaning and roof repairs.
Solid Waste management
To include:
i. Cleaning activities such as Street Cleaning, Bush Clearing, Drainage Unclogging;
ii. Collection and compaction activities such as Assemblage of Bush Cleared Waste, Waste from Unblocked Drains, and Street Garbage;
iii. Transportation of the waste to designated disposal sites; and
iv. Construction of community compost and incineration facilities.
Greening and Urban Agriculture projects
To include: Tree planting, creation of urban community shambas, building pocket parks, cleaning up riparian areas and building low cost river protection and erosion controls.
