Murang’a County Government has launched a youth and internship programme to engage young people in short-term opportunities as a way of mitigating unemployment.
Governor Irungu Kang’ata has observed that the increased unemployment rate has forced many young people to engage in drug and alcohol abuse, thus the need to come up with opportunities to engage the youth in meaningful opportunities.
In a press briefing on Tuesday, Kang’ata said the programme would not only mitigate unemployment but also contribute to equipping the youth with skills through the provision of various short-term opportunities.
The opportunities, the governor noted, are hinged on the internship policy and the Murang’a Youth Service Policy, which were approved by the local County Assembly.
“Whereas the county cannot employ youths permanently due to a legal prohibition that does not allow salary payments beyond 35 percent of the total budget, the internship programmes will equip Murang’a youths with the skills and experience required by the private sector,” Kang’ata said.
In the programme, the county administration will spend Sh110 million in the current financial year to recruit 1,050 youths and 35 supervisors who will be engaged in environmental clean-ups in Murang’a urban areas.
“Applications for these opportunities will be done on September 15 at the locational venues as provided in the Murang’a portal. Each youth will earn on a daily basis Sh400, and the supervisors who are required to have a degree will earn Sh30, 000 per month,” said Kang’ata.
He added that another 1,000 youth would be recruited and deployed to all sub-counties to conserve the environment.
“We will also recruit another 582 youth to help in farmer profiling exercises at the specific sub-county agriculture offices,” said the governor.
On the internship programme, Kang’ata said Sh20 million has been set aside to recruit a total of 455 interns who will be deployed in various departments.
Eighty intern nurses who will be earning a monthly salary of Sh30, 000 will be recruited and deployed in various health facilities to support service delivery.
Kang’ata explained that with the expansion of the health sector, the nurses, 20 interns of medical laboratory technologists, and 20 medical clerk interns will be of great contribution in ensuring better services in the newly opened health centres and expanded existing hospitals.
He added that other interns to be recruited include those of IT specialists, quantity surveyors, and architects, saying the recruitment exercise for the opportunities would be done on August 23.
Meanwhile, Kang’ata said that, as a way of reducing the rate of alcoholism in the county, they have licensed 1,730 liquor outlets.
“We have reduced the number of bars in the county by about 50 per cent. More than 3,300 applications were made, and we finally settled on 1,730 liquor outlets which met the set requirements,” he added.
Kang’ata continued “The county has not licensed any wine and spirit shops as it awaits an advisory from the Ministry of Interior and manufacturers regarding legitimate dealers”.
He urged the security apparatus and courts to take action against anyone who would be found selling alcohol without license.
By Bernard Munyao
