MPs push for youth employment via State internships

Butere Member of Parliament Tindi Mwale has tabled a petition in Parliament that could see the Public Service Commission (PSC) employ more youth in the public service..

The lawmaker, in the petition seen by the Nation, wants the National Assembly to recommend absorption of interns to offices left vacant by retiring civil servants.

The MP wants the PSC to employ interns once vacancies arise upon retirement of civil servants.

"Under the internship programmes run by the PSC, it is prudent that vacancies created as civil servants retire be given to interns by absorption," Mr Mwale says.

He says this will address the rising cases of unemployment in the country.

The MP further wants the National Assembly to ensure the Public Service ministry upscales the rate of employment.

"Chapter 4 of the Constitution on Bill of Rights provides that the State shall take measures including affirmative action, to ensure that the youth access relevant education and training and have opportunities to associate and participate in political, social, economic and other spheres of life and that they have access to employment," says part of the petition.

While lauding the internship programme as a good idea, the MP said more needs to be done to ensure those participating in the project are fully employed even before their internship period lapses.

Forensic audit

Mr Mwale's petition comes hot on the heels of another by Nominated Member of Parliament Gideon Keter, that is pushing for a forensic audit of the PSC, to ensure more qualified youth are recruited into the public service.

Mr Keter said that despite shortlisting candidates, some of the advertised positions remain pending for long before interviews are called.

"I want to compel the Cabinet Secretary for Public Service and Gender and the Labour ministry to order a forensic audit of the Public Service Commission (PSC) and ensure these anomalies are rectified so that our qualified youth can secure employment," said the lawmaker.

He said the petition was informed by the high levels of unemployment among the youth.

The MP said PSC had failed Kenyan youth.

"Majority of applicants who have applied for these jobs and got shortlisted never got any successful recruitment from the Public Service Commission, given the small number of people that get recruited,” reads part of the petition.

Youth have in the past complained that the PSC, after advertising job vacancies, takes time to process the recruitment, sometimes up to three years.

For instance, the PSC advertised jobs for the past three years but some of the positions have never been filled despite shortlisting of qualified candidates.

The positions remain either pending or are still being processed, for up to three years, creating doubts about the recruitment process.

The petition was drafted by Mt Kenya Youth leader Moses Mwenda and handed over to Mr Keter last week.

The lawmaker, who represents youth affairs in Parliament, said he has already tabled the petition before the House.

Unemployment figures

According to the 2019 Census, more than a third of Kenya’s youth eligible for work have no jobs in a business environment where the government is struggling to tackle the country’s acute unemployment problem.

The census data shows at least 5,341,182 or 38.9 per cent of the 13,777,600 young Kenyans are jobless, further widening the gulf between the rich and the poor.

This backs World Bank data on Kenya which indicates that the country had the highest rate of youth joblessness in East Africa in 2015 with 17 per cent of all young people eligible for work lacking jobs.