Gilgil — President William Ruto says his government will double the number of youths joining the National Youth Service (NYS) to reduce unemployment.

Speaking during apass out parade of 8,421 graduates, the head of State stated that the youth will be taken from every location in Kenya.

"We want to enhance the annual intake from 10,000 to 20,000 for every intake. We want to double the intake of young people joining the youth service from every location in Kenya as a mechanism of creating sufficient patriotism," he said.

President Ruto commended the graduates urging them to use their skills to advance their careers.

"All these commitments and strategies have materialised from concepts, ideas and plans because of the promise that you have demonstrated and your manifest capability in applying your knowledge, skills and training to advance your own aspirations and our collective national development goals," he stated.

The President reiterated his intention to include the youth in leadership positions.

"We have seen what you can do and this affirms our intentions to premise our plan for rapid national social and economic transformation on the participation of the youth in greater numbers and significant roles," he said.

"This is to say that the creation of meaningful opportunities for millions of young people is not a by-product of the Bottom-Up Agenda for national economic transformation but a necessary condition for economic take-off and shared prosperity."

He encouraged women to enroll in NYS and build a foundation for their development and growth.

"Our definition and understanding of development must have the active contribution of an overwhelming majority of youth as its foundational principle," he noted.

"I want to encourage the women and girls to join NYS, train for three years or so and come out with a certificate, diploma or any other necessary training in order for you to contribute to the growth of the economy of the country," the president pointed out.