Hundreds of youths in Kisii County protested on Tuesday night over delayed and reduced payments from the NYOTA programme. They received only Ksh300 instead of the promised Ksh1,000 daily stipend. The protesters spent the night at a primary school, vowing to continue until their demands are met.
Unrest broke out in Kisii County on Tuesday night as hundreds of youths enrolled in the government-backed NYOTA project protested delayed and reduced payments. Those undergoing training in Nyaribari Chache constituency were forced to spend the night at a local primary school after disputes with project officials.
The protest began around 8pm and lasted until nearly midnight. Youths reported receiving only Ksh300 instead of the promised Ksh1,000 daily stipend after three days of training. One participant said, "There has been an issue of communication since this programme started. They have never told us when we will receive the money. When we asked them, they said the payment system had issues." He added, "Today they came here to give us Ksh300 instead of Ksh1,000 per day. What is Ksh300 paid after three days of training?"
NYOTA is a five-year initiative funded by the World Bank targeting over 101,000 vulnerable and unemployed youths aged 18 to 29 across Kenya's 47 counties. Participants expect payouts of up to Ksh50,000 upon completion. The incident follows the government's announcement of the second phase rollout a day earlier, after the first phase ended in February, amid complaints over delays in the Ksh28 billion programme's initial disbursements.
