Some 46 National Youth Service graduates have traveled to work in Saudi Arabia, as part of the Kenya Kwanza Administration’s labour export programme.
Labour Principal Secretary Shadrack Mwadime and acting NYS Director General Ndambiri Nyagah, saw off the candidates at the weekend on March 2, marking the start of the departure of the servicemen and women from NYS, who are departing to Saudi for work this month.
The inaugural group will work variously as caregivers, administrative assistants and jobs in different roles in the hospitality sector.
PS Mwadime said the new strategy will focus on partnerships between recruitment agencies and NYS, to tap into the institution’s high quality training.
“We want to establish Kenya as an international brand and source of highly disciplined labour for export by tapping graduates from NYS.
“With a fairly young population, Kenya is well poised to provide labour to the Middle East, European and other destinations experiencing shortage challenges in their labour market,” Mwadime said.
Thanks to the dynamism of the NYS, the graduates of this institution are much admired as effective workers in every field, from agriculture to national security and administration, as well as building and construction, research, development and innovation
President William Ruto
“As we keep on sending young people abroad, this economy will change completely. We will not remain poor. We will break the vicious cycle of poverty,” the PS added, as he urged the graduates to learn new technologies and transfer them back to Kennya upon their return for the country’s development.
NYS said the initiative is part of the NYS Exit Strategy for its graduates, which has so far seen 272 secure jobs in the United Kingdom, 315 skilled labour in Kuwait and now Saudi Arabia.
“We are committed to connecting our graduates to employment opportunities both locally and globally,” NYS said.
In December 2023, President William Ruto said NYS graduates would be prioritised as the Kenya Kwanza Government seeks to export labour, further noting that the institution would be the central for pre-deployment training.
This, he said, will help Kenyans to understand what they need to do when they go abroad to work.
“Thanks to the dynamism of the NYS, the graduates of this institution are much admired as effective workers in every field, from agriculture to national security and administration, as well as building and construction, research, development and innovation,” he during the 87th pass-out parade of the National Youth Service Recruits in Gilgil, Nakuru County, on December 8, 2023.
Kenya has been struggling with the safety and welfare of migrant works, which has for a long period been worsened by rogue recruitment agencies.
