- The former CJ spoke after a forum in Uasin Gishu for gathering views from the residents at the Eldoret town hall.
- Maraga said views gathered from various stakeholders will be included in the final report.
Image: MATHEWS NDANYI
Former Chief Justice David Maraga has said that his 20-member committee appointed to review the state of the National Youth Service will present its final report to President William Ruto by the end of May.
Maraga said his team has split into several groups to finalise the collection of views from the public this week before retreating to prepare its final report.
“So far we have done much of the work and we are just finalizing with a few counties before we do the report and hand it back to the president”, Maraga said.
The former CJ spoke after a forum in Uasin Gishu for gathering views from the residents at the Eldoret town hall.
Maraga said views gathered from various stakeholders including community policing representatives, village elders, faith-based organizations youth and women will be included in the final report.
Ruto while speaking during the National Youth Service pass-out parade at Gilgil, Nakuru, three weeks ago, extended by two months the term of retired CJ Maraga-led task force to allow it to also review NYS welfare.
The Maraga team had completed work on reviewing the welfare of security agencies but Ruto gave them an additional two months to include the NYS.
During his speech in Gilgil, the President said he hopes to see an increased intake of NYS recruits every year.
"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 the public and private sector as well as self-employment,” Ruto said.
Earlier on, at the town hall, the residents of Uasin Gishu came up with a raft of proposals, key among them, the establishment of NYS in each of the 47 devolved units.
The stakeholders said that it is only through the establishment of NYS in every county that the majority of youth who missed out in the past and current recruitment exercises will get a chance in their counties.
They also urged the retired Chief Justice-led committee to impress upon the government to lower the entry grade for youth interested to enrol in NYS.
"We want the government to ensure the entry point for those youth who want to enrol in NYS is lowered to accommodate more youth,” resident Raymond Koech said.
He said that NYS should not be viewed by some parents and stakeholders as a dumping ground for indisciplined and unruly youth but as a place where they can horn their skills and become good citizens.
Maraga said from the views so far collected many Kenyans wanted to see a strengthened NYS which will help to mould youth as they prepare for adult life and employment.