Eight State Firms That Do Not Pay Interns

The Public Service Commission (PSC) has named eight state firms that have not been paying interns, despite benefiting from their services.

According to an evaluation report by PSC, the firms mostly comprise of public universities, most of which have been struggling financially.

The universities include Egerton University, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture & Technology, Kirinyaga University, Machakos University and the Universities Fund.

Other state firms that do not pay interns include Coast Water Works, the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development, and the Lake Victoria North Water Works Development Agency.

Every year, the government through the Public Service Internship Programme (Psip) hires interns for various roles, with 2021 numbers hitting 10,242 interns.

According to the report, 41.8 percent of public institutions recruited 3,220 interns outside the Psip programme, due to financial challenges.

“It was established that 2.6 percent of the interns had been engaged for more than one year contrary to the internship policy that requires interns to be engaged for a period not exceeding one year,” PSC noted.

In January 2022, 2,421 interns were deployed to various ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) under Psip, marking a drop from last year’s 3,150 recruits.

61.3 percent of engaged interns received a stipend below Ksh25,000.

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