The Elgeyo Marakwet County Government has announced a major boost to local vocational training, offering free tuition for all students joining Vocational Training Centres (VTCs) and hiring 40 new instructors to address severe staff shortages.
Governor Wisley Rotich announced the directive at the Iten Youth Polytechnic during a graduation ceremony for 346 students.
Under the new plan, the county government will cover all tuition costs, leaving students responsible only for their accommodation.
Governor Rotich urged young people who have not yet acquired technical skills to register immediately, framing the initiative as a direct solution to local unemployment noting that public sector payrolls cannot resolve the employment crisis and therefore the youth must pivot toward entrepreneurship.
“The government, both county and national, cannot absorb all youth seeking jobs, but through vocational training, they can employ themselves,” Governor Rotich said.
The Governor also challenged the graduates to leverage technology for business growth rather than political debates. “Each one of you has a smartphone; use it to advertise yourself instead of engaging in ‘tutam’ and ‘wantam’ politics,” he urged.
He said that the County currently operates 18 VTCs, with two more nearing completion to ensure every ward has a dedicated training centre.
Supporting the initiative, County Assembly Majority Leader Aron Cheruiyot confirmed that the assembly allocated Sh2 million this financial year to fund the tuition waiver.
Cheruiyot pledged to lobby his colleagues to increase this funding next year and to approve the recruitment of an additional 40 instructors to match growing student enrollment.
This aggressive push toward technical vocational education comes at a critical time for Elgeyo Marakwet’s economy, which relies overwhelmingly on agriculture for up to 80% of its economic activities.
The sector is driven by highland crops like maize and wheat alongside livestock and fruit farming in the Kerio Valley.
However, data from the Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRA) indicates that this dominant sector yields the county’s lowest labour productivity, contributing to a high local poverty rate that sits between 43.6% and 57%.
Compounding the problem is a severe bottleneck in formal job creation, as the county government can only absorb roughly 2,500 individuals into its civil service.
To bridge this gap, the local leadership is attempting to diversify into high-value cash crops and establish County Aggregation and Industrial Parks (CAIPs).
These new value-addition manufacturing hubs require a workforce heavily skilled in mechanics, processing, and construction, which the expanded VTC network is designed to supply.
By Alice Wanjiru
