The Nyeri county government is considering ways to compel big companies doing business with it to start internship programmes.
Governor Mutahi Kahiga said the county is looking for possibilities of bringing the private sector on board by convening meetings with the big companies.
“Going forward, the county will be looking at a situation where there must be evidence that an internship programme is being run by the company before it can be licensed to work in Nyeri,” he said.
“I am glad that the national government has been able to finally start the programme. They have 3,000 and we are waiting to see how they roll it out.”
Kahiga said that youth unemployment is a ticking a time bomb and that that is why the county government started the first cohort of interns last year.
He said last year, only 152 interns applied for the positions but this year, 2,033 people applied.
By placing an advert and having 2,033 applicants show interest, it was clear that there is a problem that the nation must address.
“Because of the big number, we had to do quite a lot of tests and interviews to ensure that we brought down the number to the current 219,” he said.
The county has raised its stipend; giving degree holders Sh12, 000, diploma holders 11,000 while certificate holders will take home Sh10,000.
The county has a budget of close to Sh32 million to ensure the programme is a success.
He said the first cohort was a success and expressed hopes that the second will be successful too.
“We look forward to this team being supported and mentored by our current workforce. I need to say here that out of 152 that we picked last year, 24 have already been absorbed by my county government,” he said.
“The other 19 have been absorbed by other institutions including banks and we even have one who has gone abroad.”
The governor spoke during the launch of the second internship programme outside the county government offices Wednesday.
However, Kahiga said the county was not able to get some professionals including interns in law. Only two applied but did not turn up for the interview.
The Internship Policy was adopted by the county government in September 2017.