The County Government of Kericho will set up modalities in order to increase the number of internship positions to over 500 in the next one year.
The governor Dr. Erick Mutai said he had held discussions with Members of the County Assembly who had agreed to increase funding for the project that had shown direct benefit to the youths in the 30 administrative wards of the county.
“I want to assure the youth of this county that during my tenure as governor I will do my best to increase the internship openings to over 500 while also seeking for employment opportunities with different potential employers, “he added.
Dr. Mutai was speaking during the inauguration of a second batch of 90 interns who will join the first group of 210 who are already with the county government.
The additional 90 was because of members of the county assembly who pleaded with the county government to increase the number of interns in wards that had not benefited equally.
The governor said the internship programme was long overdue stating that, apart from the interns benefiting through payment of a stipend, they also got an opportunity to consolidate and translate the skills learned from their training into meaningful, practical and relevant job experience.
“It is also an avenue for the youth to connect with the outside world and gain insight for further career growth. By being at the work site, the interns will get first-hand perspective of the skills and attributes required for employment, “he observed.
On the same note, the county Chief revealed that he had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with some companies with a view of giving employment to the interns.
As for youths who might not be lucky to have obtained degree or Diploma qualifications, Dr. Mutai, assured them of opportunities in other areas and mentioned the advanced plans of construction of an Industrial Park at Kapsorock in Soin –Sigowet Constituency that will employ hundreds of youths.
The Kapsorok project is a cold storage facility that will enable Value Addition to Avocados, Mangoes, Milk and other fruits.
“The industrial park which will be put up in the next three months will avail employment opportunities to over 2000 youths from the surrounding area, “he added.
He revealed the county had allocated 10 million shillings for the construction of laboratories at the Vocational Training Colleges.
“Very soon, we will make sure all the vehicles belonging to the county government are repaired the several polytechnics found in our county.
This is one way of empowering our youth who are training there, “he added
In the last recruitment, the acting Chief Officer, Public Service Management Betsy Chebet said the initial group comprises of 104 Diploma holders and 106-Degree holders.
“The board advertised for 210 positions and a record 11,060 applications were received at the close of the advertisement on 15th Feb. 2023.
The recruitment process was competitive, free, and fair and took into consideration gender, regional balance, marginalized and the minority.”She said
The CO revealed the degree holders will earn a monthly stipend allowance of Ksh. 15, 000, while the diploma holders will take home Ksh. 12, 000.
The Chairman of the Public Service Board Prof. Joel Koech said the board will work together with the County Assembly so as to satisfy the needs of the people in the grassroots and also get a balanced representation in the wards.
The MCAs who attended the function said they supported the idea at the assembly and promised to increase funding to cover more interns in the coming years.
They were led by the Deputy Speaker and Kipchebor MCA Erick Bett and included Anita Biegon (Chemosot),Martin Cheruiyot (Kapkugerwet), and Chilchillla MCA Engineer Hezron Kipngeno ,among others.
By Benedict Ngetich
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