Remarks · 3 February 2023
I take this opportunity to celebrate the graduates assembled at this pass-out parade, the NYS community as well as friends and family gathered at the National youth Service Paramilitary Academy, Gilgil.
In celebrating this fine achievement, I want to congratulate you for the commitment with which you have pursued your courses, as a result of which you are now young disciplined citizens with valuable skills, work ethic, patriotism and a keen awareness of the needs of million of Kenyans.
These priceless qualities have brought you far from where you began half a year ago and, with dignity, honour and integrity, they will take you very far in achieving and living the life and service you desire in the future.
I further take this opportunity to also welcome you to the high calling of nation-building. We have a nation to feed, sick people to treat, homes to build, industries and other enterprises to run, and a digital economy to grow, while rehabilitating and protecting the environment.
This country looks to you, as young people and custodians of its future, to embark on nation building with dedication and vigour using the knowledge and skills you have and which you will continue to acquire over a lifetime of learning and service.
The Kenya National Vision 2030 identifies the National Youth Service as a strategic organization in development. The government, in its Plan for the rapid socioeconomic transformation of the country, also considers the institution as an anchor for youth participation in driving sustainable development.
I therefore bring to your attention the high expectations the nation has of the level, scope and impact of your participation in transformative endeavours and I am confident that you are well aware of this fact. Your field units, where you ‘learnt by doing’ maize, potato, rice, cabbage, beef, chicken and dairy production, provided excellent orientation to our national food security and agro-industrial agenda.
I am encouraged to note that the NYS now intends to place 720 acres of land under irrigation to support maize, potato and soya bean seed production and multiplication. This is in addition to imparting training in such vital fields as aeroponics, climate-smart agriculture and research. It is important that this new venture succeeds, is cost-effective and does not exert inordinate budgetary pressure.
I also recognize that the service is going to play a significant role in the national tree planting campaign by growing 1 billion trees on 40,000 acres over the next 5 years.
Further, I am delighted to observe that the NYS has committed to hold the hand of many graduands in starting income generating activities and accessing affordable financing by establishing Saccos dedicated to MSME incubation and growth.
In addition, I appreciate the NYS for its plan to contribute to the enhancement of government service delivery by providing personnel to assist in digitization, automation and migration of government services online. I happy to announce that this programme is on course. The Service’s plan to escalate its participation by expanding enrolment to ICT and STEM in its technical and vocational education and training programmes is a highly welcome indication of commitment to establish the youth as indispensable engines of transformation.
The government has initiated a robust agenda to ensure that art, culture and sport blossom throughout the country in the next five years and that afterwards, Kenya will be a consistent high achiever in these sectors regionally, continentally and globally.
The NYS’ proposal to enhance its participation in these sectors by identifying, developing and promoting appropriate talent is highly welcome. Through partnership with relevant official organisations it is expected that the NYS campuses will explode as dynamic talent hubs.
The government is taking full advantage of the tremendous potential to expand Kenya’s textile production by increasing the land area under cotton production. By upgrading the Service’s garment and textile production to EPZ standards, the NYS will complement this strategic pillar by infusing youthful energy and creativity into production.
Similarly, the Service’s plan to produce affordable housing materials and expand enrolment into civil works and building trade courses in the TVET programme is a perfectly timed intervention.
All these commitments and strategies have materialized from concepts, ideas and plans because of the promise that you have demonstrated and your manifest capability in applying your knowledge, skills and training to advance your own aspirations and national development goals.
We have seen what you can do and this affirms our intention to premise our plan for rapid national socioeconomic transformation on the participation of the youth in great numbers and significant roles. This is to say that the creation of meaningful opportunities for millions of young Kenyans is not a by-product of the bottom-up agenda for national economic transformation; it is a necessary condition for economic takeoff and shared prosperity.
Our definition and understanding of development must have the active contribution of an overwhelming majority of our youth as its foundational principleband the inspiring profile of this cohort attests to this.
For this reason, we want to enhance annual intake from 10,000 to 20,000 youths, while at the same time broadening the pipeline of qualified youths into public and private sector as well as self-employment.
To enrich education, training and skill development while utilizing the construction plant, machinery and equipment, the service should be facilitated by the ministry of Water, Sanitation and Irrigation to engage in the construction of at least 100 dams and water pans annually. This will support the government agenda and enhance NYS’ financial self-reliance.
This spirit of productive learning should extend to cultivation of nearly 80,000 acres of land under commercial food production.
In recognition of the admirable role the NYS plays in anchoring youth contributions to national socioeconomic transformation, and to give comfort to the many young people enrolled and those considering enrolment, I am enhancing the path to the disciplined services by directing the ministries of Defence, Environment, Climate Change and Forestry, Tourism, Wildlife and Heritage as well as the Interior and National Administration to allocate at least 30% of their vacancies to NYS servicemen and women. This should encourage and motivate many young Kenyans on their path to national service and productivity.
Congratulations for your achievements so far. Your contribution to transforming Kenya has already been felt. The nation awaits more, with high expectations, which I am confident, you will surpass.
I wish you success in your future endeavours. May God bless you and your families May God bless Kenya.