Mercy Mwai and Anthony Mwangi @PeopleDailyKe
Advertisement for more than 3,200 internship opportunities in government will start next month, the Public Service Commission (PSC) announced yesterday.
PSC is currently preparing the policy document on the functions of the interns and expects to conclude the final recruitment process in mid-September.
Under the proposal, each intern will be paid a monthly stipend of Sh25,000 to enable them cover basic expenses such as transport and lunch.
Appearing before the National Assembly’s committee on National Cohesion, PSC chairperson Stephen Kirogo said the recruitment exercise would be based on population and follow provisions of the Constitution.
Thirty slots
“We hope to distribute these slots to all the constituencies and we have planned that each constituency gets slots. We want to focus on the constituencies so that each MP can ensure that there is fairness,” he said.
Parliament has approved Sh1 billion for the recruitment of and remuneration of interns in the programme aimed at reducing the pressure on the national government’s bloated wage bill.
The move also seeks to reduce pressure on PSC, given that over 60,000 government employees are expected to retire by June 2020.
The decision is in line with PSC circular of October 13, 2016, on Internship Policy and Guidelines.
Marginalised groups
At the same time, the commission said it was in the process of harmonising appointments to end monopoly of public positions by members of some ethnic communities.
The commission, he said, was in consultation with 13 minority groups, which have for a long time been marginalised, to ensure that whenever a position arises they apply for the positions.
Meanwhile, unemployed graduates could soon start receiving a standard monthly pay, if a proposal by two Members of Parliament succeeds.
The draft proposals by MPs Didmus Barasa (Kimilili) and Caleb Amisi (Saboti) seeks to have fresh graduates and unemployed youth paid a maximum monthly stipend to sustain them for the period they are unemployed.
The legislators have separately sponsored amendments to the Employment Act and Social Assistance Act, 2013 to ensure youths are cushioned from harsh economic times.
Amisi wants the Social Assistance Act amended to provide for Sh3, 000 hardship allowance every month to the youth.
Barasa wants the Employment Act amended to have all employers to have at least five per cent of their workforce made up of paid interns.
The MPs made the recommendations to the National Assembly’s Budget and Appropriations Committee chaired by Kikuyu MP Kimani Ichung’wa.
The proposed amendment by Amisi reads in part: “The principal object of this Bill is to amend the Social Assistance Act, No. 24 of 2013 to provide that a person who qualifies as unemployed youth shall receive a hardship allowance every four months in the form of assistance from the government.”
Amisi further wants Section 22 of the Act amended to include youth among those who qualify for the social assistance.
Such youth would be required to register with the National Employment Authority.
Currently, there are 2.6 million unemployed youth – according UNDP’s projection – with the numbers estimated to be increasing by 200,000 every year.
Annual returns
Barasa is also seeking to have the Employment Act, No. 1 of 2007 amended to provide for absorption of diploma and graduate interns by private sector employees.
The interns will be entitled to Sh25,000 every month for the period they are engaged by their employees, if the amendments succeed.
“It also seeks to make provision for a requirement for all employers to file annual internship compliance returns with the Director of Employment,” said Barasa.
Barasa’s proposal will cost the taxpayer Sh26.5 billion if each of the country’s 110, 604 interns are absorbed at an average Sh20,000 monthly pay.
