Makueni Senator Dan Maanzo has blasted President William Ruto, saying that the NYOTA Fund programme he is driving across the country is a scam.

Speaking in an interview with a local TV station on Thursday, February 22, 2026, Maanzo said that the Nyota funds borrowed from the World Bank are money and are tied to cooperatives, and therefore, President Ruto could have organised the young people into cooperatives to benefit from the programme.

“NYOTA is a scam. This is money borrowed from the World Bank to empower youths, and President Kibaki had a better way of handling the funds. The money is tied to cooperatives, and in case President Ruto doesn’t understand its purpose, young people should have been organised into cooperatives,” Maanzo said.

The outspoken senator argued that the former president, Mwai Kibaki, had a better way of handling the funds from the World Bank, saying that President Ruto has entirely failed in his efforts to empower the youth.

Maanzo has also slammed the selection criteria of the beneficiaries of the fund. He has said that the selection is biased and is done selectively, benefiting people allied to the ruling party, UDA.

He has also criticised Ruto for branding the project as a campaign tool, and his events to launch the fund in various areas were branded in the UDA colours. He said that the president is using the Nyota fund as a campaign tool.

Maanzo’s remarks have come at a time when President Ruto has told off the critics of the Fund. The united opposition has been criticising Ruto’s launch of the programme in various regions in the country, terming it a waste of public resources.

Ruto tells off NYOTA Fund critics

On Wednesday, February 11, 2026, in Garissa, during the launch of the Nyota Program, President William Ruto hit back at his former deputy, Rigathi Gachagua, in what was seen as a growing dispute over the government’s drought response and the rollout of the NYOTA cash programme in Northern Kenya.

Speaking in Garissa, on Wednesday, February 11, 2026, Ruto defended his decision to personally oversee youth empowerment forums, saying his focus was on jobs and financial inclusion, not politics.

I have come here myself. Not because I lack work. Not because of many other things. It is because of matters of young people,” Ruto said. “The empowerment of young people through financial inclusion and job creation is of such importance to me. That is why I take time to do this.”

Ruto dismissed critics who questioned why he was attending NYOTA disbursement events instead of handling other state duties.