President Uhuru Kenyatta Friday toured the Kibera slums in Nairobi to launch the clean-up of informal settlements by the National Youth Service.
Kenyatta inspected the works by over 600 NYS servicemen helping clear blocked drainage and collecting garbage to help improve sanitation.
The president, donning a t-shirt and faded jeans, mingled freely with Kibera residents during his tour.
Kenyatta, who was touched by the filthy situation in Kibera and other informal settlements, said the national and county governments will work together to improve the living conditions of slum dwellers.
Kenyatta said the sanitation programme undertaken by NYS graduates will engage the local youth to develop and transform them into productive citizens.
“We want to improve Kibera slum that had been neglected for a long time. The residents also have a right to better services,” Kenyatta said.
The President, who was accompanied by Devolution Cabinet Secretary Anne Waiguru, Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero and NYS Director Nelson Githinji, commended youth in the area for abandoning unlawful activities to engage in productive work.
“3,000 young men and women in Kibera will be engaged in the project where part of their wages will be saved into a fund to enable them continue with income generating activities after the programme ends.”
Kenyatta assured Kibera residents that the national and Nairobi county governments will work together to install street lighting in the slum.
He promised to open up the roads cutting across the slum to enable residents access services including fire-fighting equipment in case of fire.
Governor Kidero welcomed the clean-up programme which he said would improve on sanitation in the slums besides creating employment for the youth.
- the-star.co.ke
