Housing and Urban Development Permanent Secretary Charles Hinga has warned local chiefs and village leaders against favouritism and corruption as they implement the Kazi Mtaani Programme.
The PS said he had received reports that the chiefs were awarding sought after jobs to ‘outsiders’, allowing them to take up spots meant for locals.
PS Hinga urged Kilifi residents to forward the names of the ‘outsiders’ who had been hired and assured them that on completion of the exercise, the names of the beneficiaries will be published. He said that if there were any names of ghost workers, the chiefs and leaders would be held accountable.
We are going to publish all the names and if there are ghost workers, we shall smoke them out,” he said.
The PS was in the county to inspect the progress of the Kazi Mtaani initiative.
Hinga also issued a warning to the local leaders against using the initiative meant to empower the youth, to enrich themselves.
“If there is a chief who is engaging in corruption or favouritism, it means he is preventing locals from benefiting,” he said
One of the local youths, Charles Amani, disclosed that he was among those who had been bypassed in the recruitment.
Charles said he was born and bred in Mnarani butwas not picked for the program.
According to Hinga, the government has disbursed Sh 2.15 billion to pay the 283,000 youths under the initiative.Kilifi county accounts for 6,000 of the youth enrolled in the programme.
The PS added that 92.5 percent of the youth had received their payment, with 7.5 pending because some provided wrong mobile phone numbers while others have been blacklisted by mobile phone service providers.
“Some youths have been blacklisted by Safaricom and some opted to use other numbers because of Fuliza. To ensure one is paid, they have to sign an indemnity form allowing us to pay that number,” the PS said.
He told the youth to provide correct details for their payment to be issued on time.
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