Hundreds of youths enrolled in the National Youth Opportunities Towards Advancement (NYOTA) project have staged demonstrations in Kisii over reduced stipends.
The protests erupted on Tuesday, April 21 night after the NYOTA beneficiaries were forced to spend the time at a primary school in Nyaribari Chache.
The demonstrations began at around 8 PM and lasted until midnight, with the youths demanding immediate payment of their stipends from officials overseeing the NYOTA project.
Abraham Wafula, one of the beneficiaries of the programme, said they were supposed to receive a daily stipend of Ksh1000 but were only given Ksh300.
“There has been an issue with communication since this programme started. Up to now, there has been no clear communication on when the money will be disbursed. Yesterday, we were told the delay was due to a system failure.
“Today, they told us they would give us payment for two days, so we attended classes, but in the end, they only gave us Ksh300. What is Ksh300?” Wafula questioned.
Other youths said they were forced to travel from Nairobi to Kisii County to attend the NYOTA training, only for officials to pay them less than the stipend they were supposed to receive.
This comes a day after the government launched the second phase of training under the NYOTA Project.
In a statement on Monday, April 20, MSMEs Principal Secretary Susan Mange’ni confirmed that the training is already underway across all constituencies.
“The second mandatory classroom training of the NYOTA Project Business support component has officially kicked off this morning, with sessions taking place in 454 mapped centres in all the 290 constituencies across the country,” the statement read.
According to Mang’eni, the large-scale program has been deployed simultaneously nationwide, with over 6,000 trainers mobilised to guide participants through the phase.
The NYOTA fund is an initiative aimed at addressing youth unemployment and promoting sustainable economic empowerment.
The project became effective on June 21, 2024, and is scheduled to run until December 31, 2028.
NYOTA targets 820,000 vulnerable youth across all 47 counties, offering them a chance to gain employability skills, business support, and access to financial services.
In the first phase, NYOTA beneficiaries received Ksh22,000 each to support their business, and Ksh3,000 was deposited as savings under NSSF’s Haba Haba Scheme.
The beneficiaries are expected to receive another Ksh22,000 in the second tranche and Ksh3,000 deposited into their Haba Haba savings wallet.
