By RAWLINGS OTIENO and LONAH KIBET

KENYA: Youth representatives have asked President Uhuru Kenyatta to appoint young people to the positions of Principal Secretaries.

National Youth Council Chairman Clement Ayungo accused the Public Service Commission (PSC) of locking them out through a discriminatory selection criteria.

  “Asking for 15 years’ experience for one to be a PS locks out the youth because the earliest one can qualify for that position is at 42 years. It will be a betrayal to leave the youth out of any appointment by the state,” said Ayungo during a press conference in Nairobi yesterday.

Keep promise

READ MORE

 From allies to adversaries: UhuRuto's betrayal politics

 Kindiki will be the voice of reason in government

 Why forgotten Mau Mau songs are resounding across the mountain

 Uhuru Kenyatta: I hold no grudges and ill will against anybody

He called on the President to ensure that they are involved in planning and executing initiatives targeting them.

Ayungo said the Government should keep its promise to empower the youth and give them the opportunity to lead by allocating them enough positions in the appointment of Principal Secretaries, ambassadors and parastatals head.

The Government has promised to create at least one million jobs a year as well as set up Sh6 billion interest-free loans kitty as parts of efforts to address massive unemployment among the youth.

They also want to be allocated adequate funds in the next financial year to enable them execute their mandate.

 “It’s worth noting that since the Council was established in December last year it has never been allocated money by the Treasury. The president should intervene to have the council funded as soon as possible to make it fully operational,” he said.

It is estimated that 75 per cent of Kenyan population directly depends on small scale farming for their livelihood in the rural areas while farming individuals are commonly elderly people between the ages of 45-65 years.

Rising unemployment

According to  US Agency for International Development (Usaid), an estimated 75 per cent of out-of-school youths in Kenya are unemployed.

Ayungo lauded the commitment by the Government to empower the youth through a raft of measures ranging from credit, education and  health outlined by President Uhuru during his Madaraka Day speech on Saturday.