President William in meeting with Principal Secretaries at State House Nairobi to prepare for the nationwide roll-out of the Nyota initiative.
President William Ruto’s administration on Monday rolled out yet another ambitious Sh5 billion program targeting millions of unemployed youth with his eye on the 2027 re-election bid.
The President dispatched his Principal Secretaries (PSs) to all the 47 counties for town hall meetings with the Gen Zs, who have become a crucial vote ahead of the 2027 presidential race.
Dubbed National Youth Opportunities Towards Advancement (NYOTA), the five-year programme co-funded with the World Bank is meant to increase employment, earnings, and promote savings for selected vulnerable youth at national scale.
President William Ruto during a Presidential Roundtable with the Kenya Private Sector at Emara Ole-Sereni Hotel in Nairobi on August 6, 2025
It is designed to support 100,000 young people across the country, with 70 beneficiaries drawn from each of the country’s 1,450 wards.
Each successful applicant will receive a Sh50,000 grant to kick-start their entrepreneurial ventures, opening up opportunities in business and enterprise.
Further, the programme will also involve 90,000 youth who will be trained to gain job experience, 20,000 on recognition of prior learning, and another 600,000 who will be trained on Access to Government Procurement Opportunities (AGPO).
A dispatch by the Ministry of Co-operatives and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) Development shows that the PSs were dispatched to their home counties to sensitize the youth on the program.
“William Ruto, President of the Republic of Kenya, directed all Principal Secretaries to spearhead a nation-wide grassroots leaders sensitization program of the National Youth Opportunities Towards Advancement (NYOTA) project in all 47 counties beginning Monday, 6th October 2025,” the ministry said.
“This is in line with a whole-of-government approach to ensure inclusivity and transparency in the rollout of this very transformative job creation initiative, targeting vulnerable Kenyan youth at the bottom of the economic pyramid.”
President William Ruto delivers his speech during the centenary celebrations of the Pentecostal Assemblies of God (PAG) Church in Kenya at Nyang’ori High School, Vihiga County, on October 4, 2025.
The President also directed the PSs to hold meetings with governors, Members of Parliament and county assemblies, and chiefs to sensitise them on the programme.
During a State House meeting with the PSs over the program, the President noted that NYOTA is part of a broader agenda to create meaningful opportunities for young people. He said that alongside affordable housing, labour mobility and digital jobs, NYOTA will empower the next generation drivers of innovation and expand enterprise.
President Ruto rode to power in 2022 on lofty promises of creating jobs for millions of unemployed youths, prioritising the needs of low-income earners and bring down the cost of living.
He also exploited the “hustler versus dynasty” narrative that that appealed to the unemployed youth and small traders.
But some of these promises have not been met, leading to a major political revolt by the Gen Zs that was manifested through the June 2024 anti-tax nationwide protests.
Crucial youth vote
With the 2027 elections fast approaching, both President Ruto and the opposition figures have all been courting the crucial youth vote.
From the so-called empowerment programme for boda boda riders and mama mboga to State House meetings with grassroots mobilisers, the President has returned to the narrative that catapulted him to power three years ago.
Born between the late 1990s and 2010, this cohort of young Kenyans is emerging not just as a voting bloc, but as a cultural and political movement.
Political parties, leaders, and institutions are scrambling to appeal to their aspirations, anxieties, and activism.
During the Madaraka Day celebrations in Homa Bay, the President said the Nyota initiative aims to empower more than 800,000 youth aged 18–29 years and up to 35 years for those with disabilities.
“The empowerment will be achieved by enhancing employability through skills training, on-the-job experience, recognition of prior learning, entrepreneurial development, and the promotion of a savings culture,” he said.
Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) PS Susan Mang’eni, under whose State Department the Sh5 billion business support programme of NYOTA is placed, said the project is designed to improve the livelihoods of vulnerable youth.
She said the project is aimed at improving youth employability, expansion of job opportunities, support for a youth savings’ culture, and enhancement of youth entrepreneurs’ access to markets.
According to the dispatch by the ministry, Youth PS Fikirini Jacobs was to be at St Thomas Hall, Kilifi, PS Cabinet Affairs Idris Dakota (Hola Primary School, Tana River County), Transport PS Mohamed Daghar (Ronald Ngala Social in Mvita, Mombasa County) while Research PS launched the program at Kwale cultural centre.
Others dispatched were Trade Investments PS Abubakar Hassan, who officiated the program at Lamu Commander Centre, Labour PS Shadrack Mwadime (CDH Mwatate Hall, Taita Taveta), Maritime PS Aden Milah (Garissa University), ICT PS Mohamed Bashir (ICT Hall, Wajir Town), Coordination PS Ahmed Abdisalan (Mandera Governor’s Hall), among others.
