Minister vows to revive battered NYS and give hope to idle youth

Cabinet secretary for public service, youth and gender affairs, Sicily Kariuki share light moments with youths during the re-launch of National youth service youth empowerment programme at Huruma grounds in Nairobi county on 14/05/2016. Photo by WILLIS AWANDU

Reeling from a battered image stemming from the loss of Sh791 million, Public Service Cabinet Secretary Sicily Karuiki has embarked on restoring public confidence in the National Youth Service (NYS).

Yesterday, Ms Kariuki launched an NYS programme in Mathare, a drive she said will give idle youth opportunity to come out of hopelessness.

“We will start demolishing buildings in Mathare and Huruma tomorrow. The youth will work with servicemen to help clean the areas and clear the debris. They will also be trained on disaster management every afternoon,” said the CS.

In an interview with The Standard on Sunday at her Harambee House office earlier in the week, Kariuki re-affirmed the government’s commitment to ensuring the programme not only succeeds, but also leaves an impact in the lives of the youth, who make up 40 per cent of Kenya’s population.

As the programme is relaunched in 72 constituencies across the country, the CS says new courses — tailor made to equip the youth with entrepreneurship skills and a sense of patriotism — have been introduced.

“We are investing in something that is very transformative. We want to empower the youth from nothing to something. We want to move the youth from wage earners to employers. This is our vision,” she said.

The new strategy is geared towards encouraging the youth to put their money in savings and credit co-operative societies (Saccos), from where they can take loans to start businesses.

“In Kibra, more than 3,000 youth in the NYS programme saved Sh130 million within four months. In Gatundu South, 3,000 youth formed 16 Saccos and saved Sh30 million, while in Kisumu Central, 4,000 youth saved Sh100 million,” said Kariuki.

The CS said saccos formed by the youth under the NYS programme have so far accumulated savings in excess of Sh926 million. Currently, 147 such saccos are operational.

“We want to increase the number of fully operationalised youth Saccos to 236 by the end of next month,” said the CS.

Public fury

To achieve this, youth under the programme are encouraged to save Sh120 from their daily earnings to enable them secure loans and apply for the 30 per cent of government tenders meant for women and youth.

But even as she moves to restore public confidence in the NYS, an organisation many view as an avenue to siphon funds, Kariuki admits that what happened was a big shame.

Last year, the NYS attracted public fury after it emerged that it had lost Sh791 million in dubious procurement deals.

The scandal led to the sacking of former NYS Director Nelson Githinji and former Devolution PS Peter Mangiti, who are now under probe. Former Devolution CS Anne Waiguru also left office due to pressure over the scam. “NYS was like a tap that had just been closed because of the mess that occurred. This meant we left many uncompleted projects,” she says.

“The strategy now is going back and finishing these projects so they can be useful to the locals. We used the period the projects were suspended to find out the best practises we can employ. We have looked at Malaysia, Singapore and Rwanda where youth agenda has been a huge phenomenon,” she said.

NYS projects will now be implemented in phases.

“We will focus on priority interventions because we face challenges in terms of sustainability and impact,” said Karuiki.

To ensure the programme succeeds, the CS said her ministry has engaged various stakeholders to develop models that will give the youth a holistic training and change them from wage earners to employers.

“The training takes the youth through the basic book keeping, business marketing plans and strategies and scanning for business opportunities. By the time they leave, we have refreshed the very basic life skills,” said Karuiki.

The Youth Affairs ministry is also in talks with various banking institutions to advance cheap loans to the youth as capital once they are done with the programme.