Gachagua demands 1,000 NYS slots, Kuria says No!

A big fight has erupted within the top ranks of President William Ruto’s administration following a scramble for slots in the upcoming recruitment at the National Youth Service.

It is reported that the standoff followed a request by Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua for 1,000 NYS slots.

Public Service Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria reportedly rejected the request and insisted that every Kenyan will be treated fairly.

The fights came to light after a post by the CS on X – formerly Twitter, that he won’t bow to intimidation to hand over the slots.

“As promised by President William Ruto and myself, there is no side list. Kila mtu aingie uwanja (Let everyone go to the field). It is time to stand for the children of the poor. No amount of pressure and intimation will make me backtrack on this,” the CS said.

The Star has established that the row may have prompted President Ruto to speak on the recruitment after he was ostensibly briefed by the CS about the demands.

During his whistle-stop tours of the Mt Kenya region, the President restated that the government would make all stops to ensure that the recruitment is free from bribery.

“I fully support the stance of the Public Service Cabinet Secretary [Moses Kuria] who has made it clear that there will be no specific list provided by my office, the Public Service Ministry, or the local MCAs indicating preferred candidates for NYS recruitment,” President Ruto said.

Our reporter called and texted Njeri Rugene, the DP's director of Communication but she had not responded by the time we published this story.

The National Youth Service seeks to recruit 15,000 servicemen and servicewomen. The jobs usually trigger intense lobbying in government.

Following the high-level interests around the process, the Public Service Ministry has issued a strict criterion to the National Youth Service.

In the new dispensation, the slots would be shared based on population and would be ward-based.

Kuria, in a letter to NYS director general James Tembur, has told the service to ensure a fair and transparent process in the distribution of the recruits in the different wards.

“Your attention and supervision are key to ensure that this schedule is strictly adhered to across all players involved in the recruitment process,” the CS said.

He added, "This meticulous distribution has been designed to promote equality and fairness, reflecting the essence of the NYS in fostering national unity."

CS Kuria wants the NYS boss to pass the message to all personnel involved “including recruitment officers, supervisors and any other relevant parties.”

The CS further wants the NYS boss to regularly monitor and report any deviations from the prescribed distribution matrix.

Kuria further wants the service leadership to “stress the significance of maintaining the highest level of professionalism and integrity throughout the exercise.”

“This exhaustive approach to the distribution of recruits will contribute to the overall success of the NYS recruitment exercise and reinforce public trust in the fairness of the process,” the CS said.

As per the schedule, the highest number of recruits in a ward stands at 28 – mostly in Nairobi, while the lowest will be four in select wards across the country.

Highly populated areas are set to get more slots compared with those in sparsely populated areas in the listing scheduled for February 5 to February 9.

This year’s NYS jobs have elicited a lot of attention because of the grand plan by government to absorb those who graduate from the system into the mainstream security agencies.

President Ruto, while in Meru recently, indicated that those who would be successfully recruited into NYS, and complete their training would be considered for government jobs.

He said opportunities would arise at the Kenya Forest Service, Kenya Defence Forces, Kenya Wildlife Service, and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI).

Last year, the President directed the agencies to recruit 80 per cent of their personnel from the NYS pool.

“Majority of the recruits therefore stand a chance to be absorbed into these institutions following the completion of their training,” Kuria said.

During a presser at NYS headquarters on Friday, CS Kuria restated the call for “a transparent and a verifiable process.”

“In the past, the recruitment process has had flaws and we are determined to fix that this time round to ensure every candidate has an equal opportunity,” he said.

NYS, the ministry said, is also at the heart of the government labour export programme.

“We plan to export NYS servicemen and women overseas. The Labour Export process is underway as we have already begun facilitating the issuing of passports at NYS Headquarters in Ruaraka,” Kuria added.