President William Ruto has directed the National Youth Service (NYS) to increase the number of recruits to 20,000 in their next intake.
Speaking on Monday when he presided over the NYS pass-out parade in Gilgil, Ruto said this year's cohort was almost 15,000 recruits and he is happy about that.
He said the government will make sure more young people benefit from trainings offered by the NYS.
"I am very happy the number of recruits was almost 15,000. As I instructed, our intention is that by next year we will recruit 20,000 at a go.
"We are making arrangements as government to make sure more young people benefit from this training and attendant vocational training that comes with it," the President said.
The Head of State said he has also approved the recruitment of additional Cadets and Private officers to support the Service in doing their work.
"As I have directed that the next recruitment will have 20,000 recruits, I have also today approved recruitment of 200 additional cadet officers to the NYS and 500 private officers to support in the exemplary work at NYS," he said.
The Head of State noted that the NYS recruits will play an integral role in achieving 15 billion trees initiative by the Kenya Kwanza administration.
He said the NYS will supervise the climate action program across the country.
