President William Ruto has put a price tag on his promised expansion of the National Internship Programme, saying 50,000 young people will be taken on from January 2027 and paid between Sh20,000 and Sh25,000 a month while they learn on the job.

Speaking during a Sunday service at AIC Kasina church in Mwingi town, Kitui County, on October 25, the President said the scheme would target young people leaving universities, colleges and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions, and would be scaled up rapidly over the next three years.

"We have said that from January, we are going to have 50,000 young people as interns who will be paid Ksh 20,000 to 25,000 per month so they can join the workplace in a graduated manner when they complete college, TVET, and university," Ruto said, according to Kenyans.co.ke.

From 50,000 to 200,000 in three years

The President said the programme would grow from 50,000 to 100,000 and eventually 200,000 places "in two to three years", describing it as a bridge between the classroom and formal employment. "All these interventions are so that we can harness the energy, the talent, and the knowledge of our young people in driving the development of our nation," he added.

He also said the government would soon unveil a new phase of the NYOTA youth empowerment programme aimed at at least 200,000 young people with business ambitions, although he gave no timelines or details on how it would run.

The internship expansion was first floated in Ruto's Mashujaa Day address at Kipchoge Keino Stadium in Eldoret on October 20, where, according to Nairobi Wire, he said placements would be merit-based and digitally managed and that the State would offer incentives to private employers who take on interns. "Many young people cannot get employment without experience, yet they cannot get experience without employment," he said then. The Mwingi remarks were the first time he publicly attached a monthly figure to the stipend.

The President had, however, indicated on Mashujaa Day that the measures he announced would still go through the necessary legislative, fiscal and administrative processes, meaning the programme's funding has yet to be formally set out.

A wide gap to close

The pledge lands against a stark jobs picture. Kenyans.co.ke, citing Commission for University Education research, reported that more than one million young people enter the labour market every year against roughly 101,000 formal jobs created in 2025. Youth unemployment is a central theme for opposition leaders heading into the 2027 General Election, and the government's critics have dismissed recent State House pledges as campaign promises.

Warning to "brokers and shylocks" over KPC shares

At the same service, Ruto mounted a robust defence of the government's handling of Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) shares following Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote's purchase of a stake of nearly 25 per cent from state-linked pension funds.

According to The Standard, the President said critics who earlier complained that the Sh9 IPO price was too high had changed tune because they wanted to buy cheaply and resell. "There is no way we are going to undersell Kenya Pipeline shares to benefit a few brokers and shylocks," he said.

He drew a comparison with past dealings in Kenya Power shares, claiming some investors bought them at Sh2 and sold at Sh19, and warned in Swahili-English: "Huwezi tapeli Wakenya in Kenya Pipeline the way you did with Kenya Power." He urged politicians to "keep petty politics out of our investors and our investment opportunities as a nation".

The remarks were widely read as a response to People's Party of Kenya leader and Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro, who has accused the government of using public pension funds to buy KPC shares at the IPO only to pass them on to Dangote months later. Nyoro and other opposition figures have demanded a full account of the transaction.

Ruto, who was on a four-day development tour of Ukambani, also cited new factories in West Pokot and Taita Taveta and the planned cement plant at Ngaie in Kitui as evidence that his investment drive was paying off, saying foreign direct investment had risen from Sh194.76 billion in 2022 to Sh415.49 billion this year.

Photos: President Ruto at AIC Kasina, Mwingi (PCS/The Standard); Moi University graduates (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0)