State House has rubbished allegations that President William Ruto failed to deliver on promises made during a recent youth empowerment programme held at State House, Nairobi.
The event, staged on August 9, brought together over 11,000 young people from Nairobi, where the President unveiled an array of empowerment tools including motorcycles, water tanks, catering equipment, sewing machines, hawking trolleys, and event materials.
However, controversy erupted after claims surfaced that some of the promised items never reached the intended beneficiaries. A Nairobi youth alleged he had been promised a motorcycle but left empty-handed, later claiming he received threats for speaking out.
In response, State House Spokesperson Hussein Mohamed dismissed the reports as misleading. Speaking through a statement on X, Hussein said all registered participants benefitted as planned.
“A total of 1,100 registered groups from Nairobi submitted proposals for their empowerment projects. All were approved, funded, and received. Each group had 10 members, meaning 11,000 people in total. The projects were delivered through group chairpersons for an orderly process,” Hussein explained.
He further accused a local media outlet of sensationalising the story, saying:
“Two voices outweigh 11,000 recipients, and that equals ‘unfulfilled promises.’ Unbelievable! But here’s the silver lining: 11,000 more people now know exactly how the media can twist a story.”
Hussein clarified that the distribution was structured at the group level, not per individual, meaning the wares were handed out to organised teams rather than single youths.
Besides the material support, President Ruto also pledged KSh 50,000 for each group of 70 youth per ward, money intended to kickstart small-scale businesses and self-employment ventures across the country.
The August 9 programme marked the President’s first direct involvement in youth empowerment in months. His deputy, Kithure Kindiki, has in recent weeks spearheaded similar initiatives countrywide alongside Kenya Kwanza leaders.
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