President Uhuru Kenyatta has stamped his authority into the National Youth Service (NYS) which has over the years been in the spotlight for outrageous scandals by ordering the new Director-General, Matilda Pamela Aleyo Sakwa to effect changes immediately.
The head of state, on Tuesday, September 17, witnessed the swearing-in of a Sakwa at State House Nairobi.
He went on and ordered her to transform the agency into a training institution that effectively delivers on its mandate, as reported on the president's website.
“You are a person with experience in the management of public resources and also in public service and administration. I have confidence that you will deliver not only to the government but also to the people of Kenya.
You have the capacity to take this organization to the next level,” Uhuru challenged her.
Uhuru further asked the new NYS boss to ensure that the agency reclaims its position in national development by equipping the youth with adequate skills and expertise to enable them to contribute to nation-building.
He also observed that NYS has in the past failed to deliver on its mandate due to challenges of integrity and weak leadership, and tasked Sakwa to rebuild the trust, confidence and faith of Kenyans in the institution.
“I have never failed to believe in this organization as an instrument of transformation of our epublic and of our young people," Uhuru added.
On February 4, 2019, the government issued an update on all the money recovered from two NYS scandals that shocked the nation.
Assets Recovery Agency (ARA) Director, Muthoni Kimani, gave the update during an Anti-Money Laundering and Asset Recovery workshop at the Radisson Blue Hotel, Nairobi. She stated that the recovery agency has taken back Ksh3 billion in total as assets.
By February 2019, assets worth Ksh500 million were seized from NYS one, out of Kshs800 million that was reported to have been lost. Another Ksh2 billion was repossessed from the second NYS scandal in which former Youth Affairs PS Lillian Omollo was implicated.
Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru was allegedly the whistleblower of the suspicious transactions at the NYS that led to the irregular payment of Ksh800 million shillings in NYS one.
Watch the video, courtesy of Nation.
