The National Youth Service (NYS) are expected to earn Ksh 2,100 per month up from Ksh 700.
The new salaries will be divided as: Ksh 600 as savings and Ksh 1,500 as allowances.
The salaries will take effect from September 2017.
NYS officers are the lowest paid employees in Kenya. They have been earning Ksh 700 per month, enough for a primary school kid’s pocket money. This figure has stagnated for decades even after several attempts by the servicemen to be awarded salary increment.This month they were lucky President Uhuru is contesting for president.He took the opportunity to entice them with the increment.
But why exactly do NYS youths remain in the institutions with this low pay?
The major reason why they never quit the force is because they always hope to be recruited into the Kenya Defense Force. Each year, thousands of NYS trainees join KDF without undergoing the rigorous recruitment exercise. Upon joining the KDF, their monthly Ksh 700 scales to Ksh 30,000-Ksh70, 000 per month. They also enjoy subsidized food in the barracks.
