President William Ruto has reiterated that he will continue championing for government programs aimed at creating job and business opportunities for the Kenya’s youth.

The President noted that projects such as the National Youth Opportunities Towards Advancement (NYOTA) is changing the livelihoods of tens of thousands of young people across the country.

He castigated critics who have an issue with his close association with NYOTA, including its national roll out, saying the move is intentional to ensure the project succeeds.

“I want to the people who are telling me to delegate matters to do with young people of Kenya to take their advice to somebody else. Matters of the youth of Kenya are of such importance that they deserve my personal attention,” he said on Wednesday.

The President made the remarks when he presided over the disbursement of KSh63 million NYOTA Business Start-Up Capital to 2,520 beneficiaries from Garissa County at Garissa High School grounds.

Present were Deputy President Kithure Kindiki, Garissa Governor Nathif Jama, Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale, Principal Secretaries, MPs, MCAs and other leaders.

In total, the President said the programme will disburse KSh375 million to 7,500 beneficiaries in Garissa, including 2,500 refugees living in the Dadaab Refugee Complex, alongside an extra 2,500 youth each from the host communities of Dadaab and Fafi constituencies.

He termed as visionless leaders questioning the NYOTA programme while offering no tangible solutions to problems facing the youth, saying job creation is central to his administration’s agenda.

“I have no regrets and no apologies whatsoever when I dedicate my time to engage with the youth in Kenya, whether in the NYOTA programme, labour mobility abroad, digital jobs or our housing, markets and hostels programme. They are worth my time,” he pointed out.

While noting that there have been projects similar to NYOTA before, he said they failed because they were poorly thought out and executed.

“I designed the NYOTA programme myself. Previous programmes were poorly designed, poorly delivered, and had minimal impact. The Cabinet and I took time to design NYOTA to eliminate corruption avenues, patronage, and ensure transparency and accountability,” he said.

President Ruto pointed out that after the conclusion of the national roll-out tomorrow in Wajir and Mandera, more than 123,000 young businesspeople will have benefitted from the first phase of NYOTA, each receiving Sh50,000 grant to boost their businesses.

Through such projects, he explained, the government is   onboarding the youth onto the country’s development agenda.

“Your destiny is important to me, to your parents, and to the Republic of Kenya,” he said.

The President took a swipe at politicians who, he noted, are without agenda whose main occupation is to misuse the youth of Kenya for selfish political ends.

“I will continue to figure out how Kenya will move forward, and how the youth will not be misused by planless, brainless and clueless politicians who only see our youth as tools for their politics,” he said.

Later, the President laid the foundation stone for the construction of a Sh279 million modern tuition block at Garissa University and inspected the Garissa Township Affordable Housing Project.

He said the government is investing Sh750 million in college and university hostels that will host more than 1,700 students at the institution.

On other National Government development projects in Garissa, President Ruto said Sh3 billion has been allocated towards affordable housing, markets and students hostels in the county.

Furthermore, the President said he is satisfied with the progress of the 750km Isiolo-Wajir-Mandera road, under the Horn of Africa Gateway Development Project, which will open up the region to more opportunities.

Similarly, he assured the residents of Garissa and the entire northern Kenya that the construction of the Lamu-Garissa-Isiolo highway is on track, noting that 210km have already tarmacked so far.

Additionally, the President pledged that another 750km of roads, connecting all the sub-counties in the region, will be built from funds raised under the proposed National Infrastructure Fund.

On electricity, President Ruto directed the Ministry of Energy to install another transformer in Garissa before the start of the holy month of Ramadhan to alleviate power outages in the town.

Moreover, the President said government will extend the power grid from Garissa to Wajir within the year, and also connect Mandera from Ethiopia.

Speakers at the event commended the President for doing away with extra vetting and profiling that Northern Kenya residents had endured for years to acquire vital documents such as birth certificates, national identity cards and passports.

“We are going to rewrite the wrong history of Northern Kenya. We are going to correct historical injustices against the people of Northern Kenya, and we are well underway in doing so,” the President said.