Gov't Breaks Down Ksh2.4 Billion Allocated to Youth Programmes Since 2022

The government has disclosed how billions of shillings have been allocated and disbursed to youth programmes over the past four financial years. 

Youth Affairs, Creative Economy and Sports Cabinet Secretary Salim Mvurya provided the breakdown on Wednesday, September 23, while appearing before the Senate. 

The programmes covered in the breakdown were the National Youth Opportunities Towards Advancement (NYOTA), Vijana Vuka Na Afya (VIVA), WHO'Z NEXT, Youth Empowerment Centres (YECs), and President's Award Kenya.

NYOTA received no allocation or disbursement in the 2022/23 and 2023/24 financial years. In 2024/25, the programme was allocated Ksh553.51 million, out of which Ksh279.01 million was disbursed.

The allocation increased to Ksh940.05 million in 2025/26, while the amount disbursed rose to Ksh1.108 billion.

VIVA, another youth-focused programme, received Ksh85.16 million in the 2022/23 financial year, with Ksh104.88 million disbursed.

In 2023/24, the programme had an allocation of Ksh160.84 million and a disbursement of Ksh177.56 million. The allocation increased to Ksh247.50 million in 2024/25, while Ksh186.68 million was disbursed.

For the 2025/26 financial year, VIVA received an allocation of Ksh256 million, with Ksh120.45 million disbursed.

WHO'Z NEXT had no budgetary allocation or disbursement during the 2022/23, 2023/24 and 2024/25 financial years.

The programme was allocated Ksh10 million in 2025/26, with the full Ksh10 million reported as disbursed.

The government also provided funding for Youth Empowerment Centres across the four financial years.

In 2022/23, YECs received an allocation of Ksh50 million, of which Ksh32 million was disbursed. The allocation fell to Ksh30 million in 2023/24, with Ksh12 million disbursed.

In 2024/25, the programme was allocated Ksh19.42 million, with the entire amount disbursed. The allocation increased to Ksh45 million in 2025/26, although Ksh11.90 million had been disbursed.

President's Award Kenya recorded equal allocations and disbursements throughout the four financial years.

The programme received Ksh20 million in both allocation and disbursement in 2022/23, with the same Ksh20 million allocated and disbursed in 2023/24.

In 2024/25, the allocation and disbursement increased to Ksh38.8 million, while in 2025/26, both figures stood at Ksh35.02 million.

This comes a week after the NYOTA Project warned youths about a new scam targeting applicants.

In a notice on Friday, September 11, NYOTA said the fund does not operate any mobile application or website to approve applications or disburse funds.

It reiterated that all applications are exclusive to the Hustler Fund platform through the USSD code *254#.

"The NYOTA Project does not have an APP or website for disbursing funds to beneficiaries. Beneficiaries receive payments directly to the phone numbers they used during application for the respective NYOTA interventions.

"The official NYOTA Project application channel remains *254#. NYOTA Project does NOT use links to enrol beneficiaries into the project," the scam alert read in part.

The state agency added that it communicates with beneficiaries through SMS and the project's official channels.

NYOTA cautioned Kenyans against sharing the links purporting to offer application and disbursement of the business funds.

"Do not be a victim of fraud. Report suspicious or fraudulent pages, apps and messages to the relevant authorities for appropriate action," the statement added.

The con artists running the scam send messages to unsuspecting youths, run them through an application process, and then ask them to pay a certain amount for their loans to be disbursed.