President William Ruto has announced 20,000 opportunities for young péople under the Climate WorX Mtaani initiative.
Speaking in Korogocho on Thursday, September 12, 2024, President Ruto noted that the young péople will be engaged in environmental sustainability projects, focusing on enhancing climate resilience.
However, Ruto faced a rowdy crowd who boldly told him that they did not have phones to register online to join the programme.
“Tutawaajiri vijana elfu ishirini. Tutawapatia kazi katika huu mpango wa kusafisha Mto Nairobi. Chukua simu muandike njia ya kujisajilisha (We will employ 20,000 youth. We will give the job under this plan of cleaning Nairobi River. Take your phone and write how to register yourselves),” Ruto told the residents.
“Hatuna simu, hatuna simu (we don’t have phones, we don’t have phones),” some of the Korogocho residents interrupted while shouting.
According to Ruto, the programme will commence on October 1, 2024, with the pilot phase being in Nairobi where the first cohort of 20,000 youth will be engaged before being rolled out in other cities.
President Ruto further announced that 140,000 more youths will be onboarded in the Climate WorX Mtaani initiative by December 2024 to help in climate restoration.
“The first phase of Climate WorX will officially begin on October 1, 2024, with 20,000 young péople being onboarded. Building on this foundation, we will extend the programme to the four major cities, Kisumu, Mombasa, Eldoret and Nakuru within one month.
“An additional 40,000 youth will be engaged with 10,000 of them allocated to other areas of Nairobi starting in early November. In December, we will roll out Climate WorX across all remaining counties onboarding 140,000 youth to ensure full national participation and full national impact,” Ruto stated.
Applying
To achieve the set target, Ruto challenged the young péople to apply and join the programme through an online platform unveiled by the government.
He urged them to start the application process immediately.
“I encourage young péople to be part of making Kenyan cities, urban spaces and neighbourhoods livable, smart, green and sustainable by applying for Climate WorX through www.crsp.go.ke
“We are a country-headed digital, so each young person will find their space in this ecosystem. Let me repeat, every young person across Kenya as soon as I finish this statement, you can begin to apply. We will be taking 20,000 young péople in Nairobi,” Ruto declared.
During the launch of the programme, Ruto directed the chiefs to carry out the registration exercise transparently and ensure only locals benefit.
Duale had earlier announced that the programme would absorb 13,000 youth from Nairobi to clean rivers.
In a statement on Tuesday, September 10, 2024, Duale indicated that cleaning the Nairobi, Ngong, and Mathari Rivers are among the priority areas.
“This programme aims to engage over 13,000 youth in Nairobi County in climate action by cleaning up the Nairobi, Ngong, and Mathari Rivers, addressing environmental and public health concerns,” part of Duale’s statement read.