President William Ruto has stated that youth from the Kazi Mtaani program will now be employed to plant trees.
During an interdenominational Church service in Karigu—ini, Kenol, Murang’a County, Ruto stated that it was in his plan to increase tree cover by planting 5 billion trees over the next five years.
“All the youth we had hired under Kazi Mtaani will now be employed to plant trees,” Ruto said.
On Tuesday, October 25, President William Ruto halted the Kazi Mtaani program, which provided unemployed youth with environmental jobs, stating that his administration will instead focus on affordable housing projects to employ more young people in construction.
“We have plans for our young people…I assure you that in these housing projects, all of you will be involved,” President Ruto said.
“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,” Ruto added.
Former President Uhuru Kenyatta launched the Kazi Mtaani project in April 2020 to help shield unemployed youth living in informal settlements from the effects of the pandemic.
Ruto has pledged to embark on a journey to combat climate change by planting 5 billion trees in the next five years and 10 billion in ten years, claiming that the initiative will help combat the ravaging drought that has claimed many lives.
