Trainers recruited under the National Youth Opportunities Towards Advancement (NYOTA) programme in Kisumu Central are raising concerns over delays in payment, with some saying they have worked for three months without receiving any money despite actively participating in the training of NYOTA beneficiaries.
According to a trainer who spoke to us, the On the Job Experience (OJE) training exercise began on May 13, 2026, with trainers informed that their payments would be made on a monthly basis, but three months into the exercise, some trainers say they have received nothing while a small percentage, reportedly around 20 percent, have continued receiving payments.
The complaint comes at a time when the official NYOTA programme describes itself as a government initiative designed to increase employment, earnings and savings among vulnerable young people, with the State Department for Youth Affairs and Creative Economy serving as the coordinating agency responsible for ensuring that NYOTA interventions are properly implemented and monitored.
The programme's official documents also show that training providers are expected to recruit and train qualified local trainers, provide training materials and equipment, monitor participants and submit reports to the NYOTA Project Management Unit, meaning the trainers delivering the programme are part of an organised implementation structure rather than people casually volunteering their time.
What is now worrying the affected trainers is the apparent difference in payment, because while some are receiving their money, others who say they have performed the same work remain unpaid, leaving them unsure whether the outstanding payments will eventually be cleared or whether they will have to complete the entire programme while carrying the financial burden themselves.
The complaint also comes against the background of the official NYOTA OJE structure, which the project says is designed around workplace based learning and includes a five month apprenticeship period after the initial training component, meaning the affected trainers could continue working for several more weeks while still waiting for money they say is already due.
The complaint received ¶
“Hello Sir, there is an issue I would like to bring to your attention.
I am one of the NYOTA OJE trainers recruited to assist in training NYOTA beneficiaries in ICT in Kisumu Central. We started this exercise on 13th May 2026, and we were informed that trainers would be paid on a monthly basis.
However, it is now three months into the exercise, and some of us have not received any payment at all, despite actively participating in the training. What is more concerning is that only a small percentage of trainers, reportedly around 20%, have continued receiving payments while the rest of us are still waiting.
The project is expected to run for about five months, and this situation has left many trainers worried and wondering whether we will eventually receive payment for the work we have already done.
We kindly appeal to the relevant NYOTA officials and coordinators to clarify the situation and explain why some trainers are being paid while others have received nothing.
We are not asking for special treatment, only transparency, fairness and payment for the work already done.
Kindly help us raise this concern and have the relevant authorities address it urgently.”
The complaint raises a straightforward accountability issue because trainers who have already delivered services should not be left guessing about whether or when they will be paid, particularly where the programme has defined implementation structures, designated coordinators and government agencies responsible for monitoring its delivery.
The State Department for Youth Affairs and Creative Economy, which the NYOTA project identifies as its coordinating agency, should explain the payment structure for OJE trainers, establish whether all approved trainers were properly captured in the payment system and clarify why some trainers are reportedly receiving payments while others who say they have performed the same duties remain unpaid.
The NYOTA Project Management Unit should also provide a clear account of the outstanding payments and communicate directly with the affected trainers rather than leaving them dependent on informal information from coordinators, particularly because the project's own stated values include accountability and transparency.
The State Department for Labour and Skills Development can also be called upon to examine the employment and payment arrangements where the trainers' engagements fall within its mandate, while NITA, which is listed among NYOTA's implementing partners and is responsible for quality standards and certification in the apprenticeship component, can clarify the relevant training structures where necessary.
This is not the first payment complaint surrounding workers and government linked programmes ¶
The concerns from the Kisumu trainers come against a wider pattern of complaints we have previously received from workers who say they performed their duties but were left waiting for wages, including employees at Ashburn Community Nursing Home in Siaya, where workers alleged that salaries had accumulated for several months and that some former employees had left the facility with three or four months of unpaid wages.
In another case, workers at Envirocare Cleaning Services, a company contracted to provide cleaning services at Bunge Towers and other government buildings, complained that their July salaries had allegedly not been paid even though May and June payments had eventually been made at the beginning of July, with the complainant further alleging that workers were discouraged from speaking directly to government officials about their working conditions.
Workers at Kenya Shipyards Limited in Kisumu also previously raised concerns over unpaid overtime, claiming they had been working beyond their normal hours and on weekends since March 2026 without receiving overtime compensation, with the workers alleging that those who questioned the payments faced victimisation.
These cases are different from the NYOTA complaint, but they raise the same basic issue: people who provide labour should not have to beg for money after completing the work they were engaged to perform
