Maritime PS Nancy Karigithu on Thursday, September 24, disclosed that there were 520,000 job vacancies in the maritime industry that young people were not aware of.
Speaking during an interview, the senior government official noted that there was a shortage of 70,000 top-level officers and 450,000 junior officers.
"This is a sector that works very quietly, day and night, and very little is understood about it. Maybe we have not done enough to sensitise youth about the opportunities but it is an ongoing process," she stated.
Her comments elicited reactions from Kenyans online with many questioning the process of advertising these jobs to the public.
"If there that 520,000 jobs, why are they not advertised? Nowadays, youth are not enticed by phony jobs which we know are set for specific individuals, don't fool us, please," a user Abedi Kilemi questioned.
Others speculated that the said vacancies were nonexistent, further claiming that they were only put out to mislead international partners.
"If they were formal jobs, why have you not advertised? These are made up statistics that Jubilee will claim as jobs created," another user stated.
"Anytime you hear a government official talk of a sector operating quietly just know that sector is a reserve for the few connected individuals. Why not advertise it on the dailies and national media," James Mwadheghu observed.
PS Karigithu stated that there was a need for more people to be trained and certified to work in the sector.
"The ministry is working on creating awareness. We have mainstreamed the maritime industry to incorporate it into our national development goals as well as within Vision 2030 as the 8th sector under the Economic Pillar that is expected to ensure 10% GDP growth for Kenya," she assured.
Unemployment among youth continues to be a hot button issue in Kenya. In the latest quarterly labour force report, the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) observed that 1,841,918 Kenyans were unemployed in the months of April, May and June 2020, up from 961,666 reported in the first quarter.
President Uhuru Kenyatta in 2019, stated that the blue economy had the potential to accelerate the country's development.
In September 2020, the Head of State stated that the government was upgrading the Liwatoni fishing complex into a full fishing port.
The President expressed satisfaction with the ongoing rehabilitation of the fish landing site which he said will help create jobs for the youth and boost the Coastal economy.
