A youth lobby has petitioned Parliament to create a Ksh300 billion supplementary budget for the 2026/27 financial year aimed at tackling unemployment and providing opportunities to an estimated three million unemployed young Kenyans.

🇰🇪 Breaking It Down

The petition, reviewed by Kenyans.co.ke, was presented to Funyula MP Wilberforce Oundo by the Youth and Young Aspirants League of the United Green Movement Party (UGM) on Thursday, June 25, with the group proposing that the measures take effect from July 2026.

According to the group, the petition was submitted on the second anniversary of the 2024 Gen Z protests to underscore its call for employment creation to be prioritised in the national budget as a way of honouring those who lost their lives.

“Most of the young people who were in the streets in 2024, 60 of whom were killed by police, wanted a better life for themselves, their families and all Kenyans to live lives of dignity as promised by the Constitution of Kenya 2010. Government has not responded to the issues that were raised by the youth in June 2024, including tackling spiralling youth unemployment,” the proposal read.

📌 What You Need to Know

According to the document, which was undersigned by former Chief Justice David Maraga, the “Ukombozi Budget” should be established under the Social Protection sector.

Under the proposal, Ksh168 billion would be used to provide monthly payments of Ksh7,000 to two million unskilled unemployed youth engaged in public work programmes for one year.

A further Ksh60 billion would fund one-off grants of Ksh150,000 each for 400,000 skilled unemployed youth to start businesses.

Ksh36 billion would be allocated for vocational and skills training for 600,000 young people and the remaining Ksh28 billion would cater for programme administration.

The petitioners are also seeking the establishment of a national register of unemployed graduates, diploma and certificate holders, alongside dedicated budget votes for youth skills development and innovation .

They argue that youth aged between 18 and 35 account for 67 per cent of unemployed Kenyans, while those below 35 make up about 75 per cent of the country’s population.

📰 Source: Kenyans.co.ke