Government to increase NYS intake slots to 40,000 from next year

Public Service Cabinet Secretary Geoffrey Ruku inspects a NYS quarter guard at the Balambala NYS camp in Garissa./KNA

Public Service Cabinet Secretary Geoffrey Ruku has said that the government is planning to increase the annual intake slots for the youth joining the National Youth Service (NYS) from the current 20,000 to 40,000 in the next financial year.

The Public Service, Human Capital Development and Special Programmes CS revealed that they are in the process of realigning the NYS to ensure that it generates income through various programmes to be able to cater for the increased numbers.

He was speaking during a relief food distribution exercise at the Jara jara ward, Balambala Sub County in Garissa yesterday.

“The NYS here must now start working to make sure that you are making use of the farms we have here. We are growing enough rice here to feed our people," CS Ruku said.

"We are also growing green gram, melons and we can also start traditional poultry farming, which can be sold across the country and raise revenue for our NYS stations."

“We want to revolutionise and make sure that NYS is properly equipped, realigned, and re-engineered to handle more intakes because the president has said that he wants many of our young people to join NYS from next year," he said.

"Currently, we are training 20,000 youths but from next year, we will increase this number to 40, 000."

CS Ruku at the same time urged young people from Garissa County to register in large numbers during the next recruitment to avoid being left out of the process.

He was accompanied by Garissa Woman Representative Udgoon Siyaad, MPs Shurie Omar (Balambala) and Mohamed Abdikadir Hussein (Lagdera) among other local leaders.