This archive report was first published on 11 July 2020.
Published on July 11, 2020, the government announced that more than 270,000 Kenyans will be absorbed into the National Hygiene Programme, dubbed Kazi Mtaani.
The programme, with a Sh10 billion budget, aims to provide a form of social protection for workers whose prospects for daily or casual work have been disrupted by the containment policies put in place to limit the spread of Covid-19.
According to Housing and Urban Development Cabinet Secretary Charles Hinga, the programme will benefit from the Sh10 billion budget outlay recently announced by President Uhuru Kenyatta.
“The Kazi Mtaani national technical committee has prepared robust work plans that will see more than 270,000 Kenyans earning Sh455 daily wage and engage in more community and infrastructure development projects,” he said.
The programme will be expanded to 47 counties and will employ workers from informal settlements and rural settings.
Initially, the programme focused on informal settlements in counties such as Nairobi, Mombasa, Kiambu, Nakuru, Kisumu, Kilifi, Kwale, and Mandera.
Over 12,000 Kenyans living in Mathare, Kibera, Mukuru, and Korogocho in Nairobi were enlisted in the first phase, where they did daily sanitation and environment preservation duties in the respective settlements.
