This archive report was first published on 6 May 2020.
On May 6, 2020, the State Department of Housing launched a programme to provide immediate job opportunities to over 26,000 youths living in informal settlements across the country.
The programme, dubbed Kazi Mtaani, aims to cushion the youths from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and provide social relief by providing jobs and helping contain the pandemic in the 23 informal urban settlements.
According to Housing PS Charles Hinga, the youths will earn a daily wage for duties such as access paths and 'street' cleaning, fumigation and disinfection, garbage collection, bush clearance, and unclogging drainage, among others.
'The payment structure is aimed at providing a daily income, and this is why workers will be paid at least twice a week through mobile money transfers,' Mr Hinga said.
Phase one of the programme, which will last a month, will target 10,600 youths living in Mathare, Kibera, Mukuru, and Korogocho slums in Nairobi.
