This is a transitional employment program aimed at fostering climate resilience by engaging the unemployed youth in the country.
On Thursday, September 12, President William Ruto encountered hostility from residents of Korogocho in Nairobi County following the launch of the Climate Resilience Service Program (CRSP).
This is a transitional employment program aimed at fostering climate resilience by engaging the unemployed youth in the country. Dubbed Climate WorX Mtaani, it is targeting youth across 47 counties and will recruit 200,000 Kenyans.
During his address to the residents, Ruto boldly declared that “Tutawaajiri vijana elfu ishirini (we will hire 20,000 youth)” for works involving cleaning up the Nairobi River.
“Tutawapatia kazi katika huu mpango wa kusafisha Mto Nairobi. Na ninataka mnisikize vizuri nyinyi vijana. Ile ya kuapply kwa sababu hii mpango hatutaki maneno ya kujuana. Hii mpango tunataka deserving young people to participate,” he revealed.
Video courtesy of Citizen TV:
Ruto: Tutawaajiri vijana elfu ishirini. Tutawapatia kazi katika huu mpango wa kusafisha Mto Nairobi. Chukua simu muandike njia ya kujisajilisha
Crowd : Hatutaki, hatuna simu pic.twitter.com/TZZvmk3Cnm
— Citizen TV Kenya (@citizentvkenya) September 12, 2024
Loosely translated to “We will give you work in the plan to clean up Nairobi River, and I want you to listen to me well, young people. The matter of applying is because we don’t want matters of who knows who. We want deserving young people to participate in the plan.”
Ruto took the residents through the process of applying for Climate WorX Mtaani online, telling them “Chukua simu muandike njia ya kujisajilisha (take your phones and write down how to apply)”.
However, the crowd responded by telling him “Hatutaki, hatuna simu (we don’t want, we don’t have phones)”, seemingly fed up with the Head of State selling Kenyans false and undeserving promises.
The program will promote sustainable public works in urban areas, focusing on infrastructure, environmental conservation, and the housing sector.
The first phase of CRSP will commence in Nairobi County, along the Nairobi River, under the guidance of the Nairobi River Commission, with a key focus on environmental enforcement.
“The first phase of Climate WorX in Nairobi County will officially begin on October 1, 2024, with 20,000 young people being onboarded. Building on this foundation, we will extend the program to the four major cities; Kisumu, Mombasa, Eldoret, and Nakuru—within the month.
“An additional 40,098 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 ClimateWorX across all remaining counties, onboarding 139,902 youth to ensure full national participation and impact,” Ruto stated earlier.
How To Apply
The President encouraged “young people to be part of making Kenya’s cities, urban spaces and neighbourhoods liveable, smart, green, and sustainable by applying for ClimateWorX through www.crsp.go.ke.”
Kenyans above the age of 18 across all counties are eligible for the program, with each cohort serving for one year.
Each year, the government will recruit a new cohort. The one-year duration has been set to provide the youth with sufficient time to work and plan their next steps in life, according to the government.
During the engagement period, the youth will not only participate in the works program but will also receive life skills training.
A multi-agency approach will be adopted among the implementing partners, with strong collaboration between the national and county governments.