Kenyan President William Ruto defended his administration’s record on youth employment on Wednesday, saying the government’s affordable-housing programme has put 320,000 young people to work across roughly 200 building sites nationwide. He rejected criticism that joblessness began under his tenure, calling it a longstanding challenge that previous governments failed to address. Lands Cabinet Secretary Alice Wahome, speaking at the same event, put the current number of young workers on the housing projects at about 200,000. Both officials argued the construction drive is creating opportunities for engineers, surveyors, plumbers, masons and other trades as part of a broader plan to tackle unemployment.