Govt Sets June 30 Deadline for Delayed NYOTA Grant Payments
The government has confirmed that beneficiaries of the National Youth Opportunities Towards Advancement (NYOTA) will receive the second tranche of their startup grants by June 30, after weeks of uncertainty.
Principal Secretary for MSMEs Development Susan Mang’eni confirmed the developments in a statement on Tuesday, June 2, where she attributed the delays to budgetary constraints arising from changes made to the project’s implementation framework.
According to the PS, the World Bank-supported programme initially envisioned a phased rollout of its Business Support Component through three separate intake lots.
However, overwhelming interest from Kenyan youth prompted a redesign of the programme.
“The government acknowledges the increasing inquiries and concerns from beneficiaries on the disbursement of the second tranche and regrets the delay, which was caused by the compression of the project and concentration of the attendant budgetary requirements in one financial year,” PS Man’geni said in a statement.
Because of the need for an alteration of the fund’s structure, the Ministry entered into consultations with President William Ruto and World Bank officials, after which the government opted to implement the business support component as a one-off nationwide intake to avoid keeping prospective beneficiaries waiting for extended periods.
The statement added, “Following the intervention of His Excellency the President and the World Bank leadership in Kenya, the component was rolled out as a one-off intake nationwide to avoid delays for beneficiaries.”