President William Ruto has ordered the Public Service Commission (PSC) to increase the number of interns in the public service in a radical change of direction by the government.

🇰🇪 Breaking It Down

The Head of State made these remarks after a July 29 meeting with PSC representatives at State House, Nairobi, stating that college and university students should occupy more space within the public service.

Additionally, he also ordered PSC to ensure that proper performance and contracting criteria are in place to measure performance impact.

"The PSC should expand the internship programme to provide workplace experience to many more college and university graduates and perfect performance contracting to measure the impact of public servants in the service to Kenyans," stated President Ruto.

📌 What You Need to Know

The country produces approximately  50,000 to 80,000 university graduates each year, with tertiary and vocational institutions pushing total annual graduates higher. This declaration comes days after PSC opened 3,000 internship slots under Cohort 9 of its Public Service Internship Programme for 2026/2027, with applications closing August 17, 2026.

The 12-month, non-renewable placements offer a government stipend across ministries, agencies, and public universities, culminating in a completion certificate, a move, according to PSC, meant not only to make graduates job-market ready but also to prepare them for future roles within the public service.

This comes as data from the Federation of Kenya Employers (FKE) reveal that less than 40 per cent of university graduates in the country transition smoothly into the workforce each year, with the broader youth unemployment rate for individuals aged 15 to 34 standing at a staggering 67 per cent.

During the same engagement, President Ruto also ordered a complete overhaul of the public service sector and a shift from manual handling to full digitalisation to ensure greater efficiency in providing key services to Kenyans.

“First, digitalisation must be institutionalised at the PSC in shifting the organisation away from manual and paper-heavy systems towards data-driven and automated models to increase efficiency and create value,” President Ruto stated.

This comes days after the Cabinet Secretary for Public Service and  Human Capital Development and Special Programs, Geoffrey Ruku, warned that every parastatal, ministry, and state agency ought to incorporate the  Integrated Human Resource and Payroll System (HRPS) to prevent salary non-payment. The reason is to tackle the problem of ghost workers, which has cost the country billions of shillings, according to the Auditor General's reports.

📰 Source: Kenyans.co.ke