The National Youth Service has been losing billions to corruption because there is no proper organisational structure.
NYS Council chair Maj (Rtd) Mwaniki Njuki told the National Assembly Labour committee on Thursday that the service is in the process of restructuring to commercialise it and reorganise its services.
The committee chaired by Bura MP Ali Wario heard that poor organisational structure encourages graft and led to the NYS I and II scandals.
Kenya lost Sh791 million and as much as Sbh10.5 billion, respectively, but suspects in the second scandal are charged with the loss of less than Sh500 million.
The NYS Council told the MPS at the Tamarind Hotel in Mombasa that the poor structure means there are too many leaders and too few followers, leading to a situation in which as many as 10 people supervise three people.
“Ideally, an organisation should be structured like a proper pyramid. The base should be very big, the top should be very small. You can’t have many bosses and no workers,” said incent Ombaka, a council member representing the youth.
Njuki said the service has spent six months drawing up a five-year strategic plan to make the NYS self-sustaining through commercial activities.
The new council took in February after the NYS Act 2018 was gazetted.
In terms of governance structure, it is undefinable. That is why you got NYS I. Because there is no control. There is no responsibility.
“We want to build an organisation that can manage its tasks," Ombaka said.
The council received Sh12.7 billion this year, however, Ombaka said that is only enough to run NYS the way it has always been run, not as it should be managed.
The council said the NYS has only three cadets, with the last recruitment having been in 1992.
There is a shortfall of 3,000 cadets.
“There has been no succession plan,” Njuki said.
The last training of Inspectors going upwards was done 27 years ago while that of corporals was done 10 years ago.
“In terms of governance structure, it is undefinable. That is why you got NYS 1. Because there is no control. There is no responsibility."
The chairman warned that should the structures remain the same without any intervention, more money risks being lost.
He suggested he would resign if the structure is not reorganised.
“If it continues that way, we (the new team) in another two years will run away. We don’t want to be accused. We must make this structure proper."
Edited by R.Wamochie
