Educated but unemployed youths have resorted to street demonstrations, physical visits to public offices and at times online and phone messages attacks against government officials over frustrations in their pursuit to secure formal jobs, a new report by Public Service Commission (PSC) shows.
This, coupled with an ageing workforce, poses a grave danger to the civil service as critical skills are not being passed on to the next generation of the country’s human resources. It’s an irony that qualified Gen Z are missing out on jobs held by those set to retire soon.
The country has slightly more than one million public servants, according to the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC). The figure includes the core civil service, county government employees and staffers of State corporations. Out of this, more than half (more than 500,000) are over 50 years of age.
Outgoing Public Service Commission chairman Anthony Muchiri.
Photo credit: Wilfred Nyangaresi | Nation Media Group
An exit report by the outgoing PSC chairman, Anthony Muchiri, has laid bare the struggle by graduates to secure government internship, with thousands having their applications trashed.
An example is the Public Service Internship Programme (PSIP) where between 2022 and 2025, a total of 141,000 graduates applied.
Of the number, only 21, 409 secured the opportunity. But even those who secured internship, some could not secure jobs after the programmes.
Ambassador Muchiri, in the report, says that some of those who were not absorbed got agitated and staged protests at Harambee Avenue. Others physically stormed his office demanding jobs, while others resorted to sending messages, both online and on the phone, targeting government officials.
Data by PSC shows that in the 2021/22 financial year, a total of 46,257 applied for an internship, but only 4,446 were successful.
In the 2022/2023 fiscal year, another 30,300 made applications, but only 3,902 were selected, while in 2023/2024 only 8,650 were hired out of 50,269 applicants. More graduates were also unsuccessful in 2024/2025 after only 4,411 were absorbed for internship out of 42,000 applicants.
“On average, some 90 per cent of applicants for positions advertised by the Commission do not get recruited. Data from PSIP Cohorts IV – VII indicate that the number of applicants were nearly ten-fold the positions advertised,” notes the report.
It adds: “This trend presents the commission with intense social pressure from fresh graduates, especially Gen Z, in their demand for advertised positions.”
PSC further notes that it has been forced to confront demand by the interns to be absorbed for permanent jobs: “The PSIP also presents another unforeseen challenge where interns expect their conversion to permanent and pensionable status as a legitimate right.”
“Over the last two years, the commission has had to contend with demonstrations on Harambee Avenue, on-site visits to the Chairperson’s office and activist attacks on phone and online known as ‘salaams’ (greetings),” states the report.
The report notes that budget allocation for interns’ stipends was increased from Sh1 billion to Sh2 billion.
A 2024 Audit report revealed that officers aged 60 years and above represented 1.8 per cent of the 253,318 covered in a specific audit at that time.
As of July the same year, approximately 25,879 employees across 520 agencies were aged between 56 and 60 years, meaning they are set to retire within the next three years.
The PSC, the Commission itself, faces an aging workforce problem.
Job seekers wait to hand in their documents at County Hall, Nairobi, on May 26, 2017.
Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group
In the PSC exit notes, Mr Muchiri said over half (52 per cent) of civil servants in the commission are set to exit in the next five years.
“Staffing gap as proportion of approved establishment during FY 2024/25 was 44 per cent, a situation that had not changed at the time of this Report. Notwithstanding current projections suggesting a fall in staffing gap, in the absence of budgets to finance new recruitments, the gap may remain significant at a level that profoundly and adversely impacts performance and delivery. This understaffing, coupled with an aging workforce where 52 per cent are expected to retire within five years, strains the Commission’s capacity to handle its expanding workload, including recruitment and oversight for TVETs and public universities,” Mr Muchiri said in his exit notes.
Kenya continues to face significant unemployment challenges, with the overall rate estimated at 12.7 per cent in 2024. The youth bear the brunt of this crisis, with youth unemployment soaring to 67 per cent in 2025, leaving thousands of graduates and school leavers struggling to find meaningful work.
Young people between the ages of 15 and 24 are particularly affected, with an unemployment rate of 13.4 percent in this age group.
Unemployment surged during the Covid-19 pandemic, which saw about 1.72 million workers laid off in three months to June 2020. Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), at the time, said the number of jobless people fell to 15.87 million between April and June compared to 17.59 million the previous quarter.
A group of jobless residents idle on the Kimathi Road roundabout in Nyeri. The high cost living, corruption and unemployment are the three biggest challenges facing the country, according to a new opinion poll by Ipsos.
Photo credit: File | Nation
Kenya’s economy has been growing sluggishly over the past decade, which means new jobs are not being created at a rate that is good enough to absorb the growing number of people joining the active labour force each year.
The report also highlights political interference in high-profile hiring that has ended up locking qualified individuals, and instead having the well-connected secure jobs they do not qualify for.
The trend is linked to the hiring of individuals with fake certificates, with PSC indicating that its audit unearthed over 2,000 forged certificates in public service.
“The exercise uncovered over 2,000 forged certificates, leading to the dismissal of 449 officers. A report was submitted to the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), recommending the prosecution of individuals found with forged or fake certificates,” notes the report.
Mr Muchiri further argues that effective leadership at PSC demands more than technical expertise to ward off any possible interference.
“It requires political acumen and situational awareness. Navigating interactions with Parliament, high-ranking officials and the general public required tact, timing and strategic communication.”
He says that high-profile recruitment exercises such as the recruitment of Principal Secretaries, Ambassadors, CEOs of major parastatals and making recommendations for appointment of Chancellors for Public Universities, require managing public expectations while shielding the process from political interference.
“Striking the right balance between public transparency and institutional discretion proved critical in maintaining credibility and respect for the Commission’s work.”
“The Commission’s independence is both a constitutional requirement and a political necessity. However, real-world practice often introduces pressure from various quarters, particularly from political actors, interest groups, or even the media.”
