Moses Kuria unveils NYS recruitment team, encourages transparency

Cabinet Secretary for the Ministry of Public Service Performance and Delivery Management Moses Kuria media brief on the national
recruitment of National Youth Service servicemen and women. [Jonah Onyango, Standard]

The Cabinet Secretary Ministry of Public Service and Performance Moses Kuria has today unveiled a team that will oversee the National Youth Service recruitment exercise.

Kuria said in the exercise set to begin Monday next week, some 15,000 men and women will be recruited to join the service.

He said the recruitment will run from Feb 5 to Feb 9, 2024 across all the country before another round of recruitment in July.

"As I unveil this team that will oversee the process, I want to emphasise on the need to adhere to a transparent and a verifiable process. In the past, the recruitment process has had flaws and we are determined to fix that this time round to ensure every candidate has an equal opportunity," said Kuria.

The CS said the recruitment will be ward-based where they have allocated recruits per ward while considering the population of each ward.

Kuria maintained upon their graduation, the service men and women will be given priority when it comes to absorption in the National Police service and Kenya Defence Forces.

In 2021, immediate former President Uhuru Kenyatta directed KDF to double the number of graduates it absorbs from the National Youth Service (NYS).

Following the directive, KDF recruited some 1,000 young men and women down from 500.

A year later, President William Ruto directed the National Police Service, Kenya Defence Forces, Kenya Wildlife Service and Kenya Forestry Service to recruit 80 per cent of their pool from NYS.

Kuria said as a result of President Ruto's directive, majority of the recruits therefore stand a chance to be absorbed into these institutions upon completion of their training.

"NYS is at the heart of the government's current Labour Export Programme. We plan to export NYS servicemen and women overseas. The Labour Export process is underway as we have already begun facilitating the issuing of passports at NYS Headquarters in Ruaraka," he said.

Kuria said Kenya is a youthful country with 70 per cent of the population consisting of the youth.

"We need the youth to drive our economic transformation agenda. The Kenya Kwanza Administration is committed to ensure that every young person has an equal opportunity," he said.