The National Youth Service (NYS) on Wednesday announced a nationwide recruitment drive set to kick off next month.

In a post on its social media account, NYS said that the recruitment drive will kick off from February 5 to February 9, 2024.

The exercise targets both male and female candidates aged between 18-24 years of age and will be carried out in every sub-county of all the 47 Counties.

“The Kenya National Youth Service wishes to announce to the general public that the recruitment drive will be carried throughout the Republic,” NYS announced.

The youth body announced that interested candidates must meet various requirements such as being a Kenyan citizen and a resident of the respective sub-county of recruitment.

In addition, On the day of recruitment, volunteers should produce a National Identity Card, academic certificates, and a certificate of good conduct and must have scored a mean Grade of D plain and above in the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exam.

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Others are a certificate of Good Conduct,  must be ready to undergo medical check-ups during and after the recruitment exercise, should be prepared to undergo rigorous physical training and should be prepared to give voluntary service to the Nation in any part of Kenya.

“Successful candidates will report for the NYS paramilitary Course at NYS College, Gilgil, and NYSTTI Naivasha on dates and times specified in their respective calling letters to be issued,” NYS noted.

NYS added that successful orphan volunteers will be given special preference but must first prove they are orphans by producing some documents such as parents’ death certificates or burial permits.

“Persons with disability are also encouraged to avail themselves for the recruitment exercise in their respective sub counties and centres provided they can withstand the rigorous physical training,” NYS added.

President William Ruto in December last year announced an increase in the intake of the NYS trainees from the current 10,000 to 15,000 per cohort beginning this year.

Speaking during the pass-out parade for over 10,000 servicemen in Gilgil Nakuru County, Ruto said the move is aimed at achieving 100,000 annual enrolments in the next five years.

In addition, the Head of State said that 80 percent of all security personnel in the country would be picked from NYS, including the Kenya Defence Forces, Kenya Police, Kenya Forest Service, and the Kenya Wildlife Service.