Unemployment has reached crisis level, says PS

Kenya’s Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Youth Affairs Kinuthia Murugu has decried the high rate of unemployment among the youth saying it has reached a crisis level.

Murugu said most of the youth in the Kenya who constitute over 60 per cent of the population are languishing in abject poverty due to unemployment.

He noted that the hardest hit are those from poor families, majority of whom are migrating to urban centres in search of employment where they end up in a more hopeless situation as they struggle to make ends meet.

Speaking during the closing of street families’ rehabilitation exhibition at KICC, the PS said efforts aimed at fulfilling the aspirations of the youth are being sought.

“In an effort aimed at fulfilling the aspirations of the youth, the Government through the ministries of Youth Affairs, Local Government and the Street Families Trust Fund launched the National Youth Service Reformed Youth Training Programme in 2003,” said the PS.

He further disclosed that the Local Government ministry initiated measures to address unemployment through the street families rehabilitation fund in partnership with various government ministries, private sector, development partners, local authorities and children’s institutions.

Murugu said the objectives of the programme was to help the street families rediscover their talents as well as equip them with the necessary skills to prepare them for formal or self-employment.

He said 300 former street children were admitted to the NYS college in Gilgil on the 26th of April 2003 while the second lot of 500 youths joined the college six months later where they were trained in vocational fields such as tailoring and building.

According to the PS, some of them were able to secure formal employment after the training.

“Its therefore recommended that those who have not been able to secure employment be facilitated by the trust fund to acquire tools of trade to enable them engage in self-employment,’’ said the PS.

The PS, however, said besides unemployment, another challenge facing the NYS graduates was lack of “exit strategy since majority of them did not have anywhere they could call home”.