Ruto says 1,000 youth taking jobs abroad weekly

President William Ruto has defended his decision to form a broad-based government.

During his tour of Taita Taveta county Sunday, the Head of State said he was forming the Government of National Unity (GNU) to unite the polarised country and urged all Kenyans to embrace the idea so that focus turns to development and job creation.

The President admitted that the Generation Z (Gen Z) protests were an eye-opener that gave him an opportunity to reorganise his administration to ensure inclusivity for the sake of harmony and development in the country.

“This is a season of uniting and working together irrespective of party affiliation. I need prayers as I reorganise my government for efficient delivery of services to Kenyans,” Ruto said.

The Head of State sought to assure Kenyans that GNU will promote national interest and strengthen democracy more than ever before and asked all Kenyans to embrace it for posterity.

He said his administration is facing challenges in the wake of Gen Z protests and a huge budget cut, which would affect some projects.

Ruto also announced that the government was keen to create jobs for youths through labour export programmes, affordable housing and digital hubs.

He said the Ministry of Labour had 400,000 foreign jobs up for grabs and some 1,000 youths are travelling abroad every week to take up the opportunities.

“On the digital space of the Principal Secretary for Labour, there are currently 400,000 foreign jobs. We urge MPs to prepare the youth in their constituencies to take up the opportunities. The youth will get passports within a week and get free air tickets,” he said.

He was speaking at Bura in Mwatate sub-county, Taita Taveta, after attending service at ACK St Peter’s church.

Local politicians, however, complained that the county was given a raw deal in government jobs.

Taita Taveta Women Representative Lydia Haika and Mwatate MP Peter Shake welcomed the nomination of former Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho and former Cabinet Secretary Salim Mvurya to the Cabinet.

But Haika asked the President to also consider Taita Taveta for the top government jobs.

“We have decided to work with the government because we have stayed in the cold for too long. We are also supporting the formation of the broad-based government, and we need more job opportunities in government,” Shake said.

Haika noted that Labour Principal Secretary Shadrack Mwadime and Kenya’s ambassador to Rwanda Janet Oben, who accompanied the Head State, are the only senior members of the community in the government.

“We have many professionals in the region who can be appointed to senior government positions,” said Haika.

The President said he will inaugurate a Sh10 billion steel factory in Manga, near Voi town next month.