Garissa governor Nathif Jama has urged young people in the county to go for technical training and acquire skills from the Technical, Vocational Education and Training colleges to be able to create employment.
Jama, who was speaking during Jamhuri Day celebrations at the Garissa primary school grounds, said white collar jobs are diminishing in the job market, especially due to concern about the increasing wage bill at both the county and national governments.
The governor at the same time called out some young people in the county for wanting to get a smooth ride in life without working.
He refuted claims that insecurity and drug abuse in the county, especially in Garissa Town, is fueled by lack of jobs, noting that there are many job opportunities but the young people are uninterested in working in the informal sector.
“I do not believe that the insecurity in this town is being caused by joblessness. Thousands of workers every morning come to this Town from Madogo in our neighbouring county and make money from this county,” Jama said.
“We have to tell our youth the reality. There are no more job opportunities at the county government. Currently, 52 per cent of the equitable share I get goes to salaries, if we increase our employees, where will we get the money for drugs or equip our hospitals and do other development projects?” he posed.
The governor said that together with other elected leaders, they have been providing bursaries for students pursuing technical courses at the North Eastern Province Technical College, where good courses are offered but the turn out by the youth is very low.
“We have colleges here to train them on electrical engineering, on welding, and other courses for free. I have been told that the NEP College has a capacity of 8,000 students but only 1500 who are enrolled,” he said.
“These courses take only six months and there are many opportunities but the youths just do not want to work and want to lazily dilly dally around and cause havoc in our town,” he added.
By Erick Kyalo
