Justina Wamae: NYOTA funds will be wasted on alcohol
By Joel Masibo, November 11, 2025The 2022 Roots Party presidential running mate, Justina Wamae, has argued that the ongoing disbursement of National Youth Opportunities Towards Advancement (NYOTA) grants will not meet its intended purpose without proper supervision.
Wamae’s sentiments come when the government has rolled out the nationwide physical validation exercise for the Fund, a World Bank–supported programme aimed at empowering young Kenyans through training, entrepreneurship, and start-up support.
The validation exercise, announced by Cooperatives and MSMEs Development Cabinet Secretary Wycliffe Oparanya, took place on Friday, October 24, 2025, across all 290 constituency headquarters.
NYOTA grants wastage
However, Justina Wamae has stated that beneficiaries of the particular grant should have been issued with guarantee agreement portfolios to prevent wastage of the money on alcohol and other things.
”NYOTA grants will land in KEG joints if the beneficiaries are issued without proper scrutiny. Wish they signed a portfolio guarantee agreement with local banks,” Wamae took to X on Tuesday, November 11, 2025.
Her suggestion comes when President William Ruto has also warned against the wastage of the grants by the youth on alcohol and romantic relationships.
The Head of State, on Friday, November 7, 2025, officially launched the project in an event hosted at Mumias Sports Complex, Kakamega County.
NYOTA project launch
”The launch of the KSh5 billion business support component of the National Youth Opportunities Towards Advancement (NYOTA) Project marks a major milestone in youth empowerment in our country, a decisive step to expand opportunities for young people in business,” Ruto said.
The initiative is anchored on five key components: business support targeting (110,000 youth), apprenticeships (90,000 youth), savings mobilisation under the NSSF Haba Haba Scheme (190,000 youth), digital literacy and employment systems training (600,000 youth), and recognition of prior learning (20,000 youth), totalling 820,000 beneficiaries across the country.
On the same day, 12,155 beneficiaries of the Business Support Component from Cluster 1 (Western Counties Cluster) successfully received their first batch of Ksh50,000 grants after the launch, marking the start of the nationwide rollout, where 70 youth in each of the 1,450 wards will receive their share of the business grant to spur local enterprise.
The remaining clusters will, within the next two weeks, undergo entrepreneurship and business skills training and receive their respective disbursements as directed by the president.