By E, KNA
Members of Parliament from Uasin Gishu county are championing for an increase in the number of the youth beneficiaries per ward under the National Youth Opportunities Towards Advancement (NYOTA) project from the current 70 youth to 100 so as to accommodate more unemployed youth.
Soy constituency MP, David Kiplagat, and other leaders welcomed the new transformative World Bank-supported initiative aimed at boosting youth employment and entrepreneurship, providing training, startup capital, mentorship, and market linkages to help young Kenyans start and grow successful businesses.
“Our appeal to the president is that we increase the number to 100 youth. Ideally it is set to benefit 2100 youth across the 30 wards in Uasin Gishu but if we make it hundred it benefits 3000 young people, this means more employment opportunities for our youth,” noted CPA Julius Rutto, MP for Kesses.
The legislators made remarks during the stakeholder sensitization forum for the NYOTA project in Eldoret City, Uasin Gishu County on Monday.
The event that brought together the teams from Ministry of Cooperatives, MSMEs Development, led by MSMEs PS, Susan Mang’eni, Ministry of Labour, National Government Administrative Officers (NGAOs), County Leadership, Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises Authority (MSEA), and local leaders, all calling on youth to take full advantage of the program’s opportunities.
The suggestion of 100 youth per ward if accepted, will translate to a total of 145000 youth across the 1450 wards in all the 47 counties as compared to the current 101,500 beneficiaries (70 per ward).
The MPs views come just as The NYOTA Project applications for Business Support are set to close on October 12, 2025.
Other members of parliament present were, Samuel Chepkonga, Ainabkoi and Janet Sitienei, Turbo.
During the nationwide sensitization forums on Monday led by the Principal Secretaries from various state departments, with county leaders and youth, the youth were urged to apply in numbers and utilize the opportunity by dialing *254# and follow instructions.
The National Youth Opportunities Towards Advancement (NYOTA) project is a government initiative sponsored by the World Bank.
The five-year program with an investment of Sh5 billion is expected to impact 820,000 vulnerable youth across Kenya.
It includes Sh50,000 grants for 100,000 young entrepreneurs, distributed to 70 beneficiaries in each of Kenya’s 1,450 wards.