Ruto Reveals Aftermath Of 70,000 Who Reportedly Lost Their Jobs
FKE on Friday, November 24 warned that millions of Kenyans risk losing their jobs in the coming days
Marvin Chege 
President William Ruto on Sunday, December 17 revealed that his government hired part of the 70,000 Kenyans who lost jobs in the private sector.
During a televised media roundtable at State House, Nairobi, the Head of State revealed that out of the 70,000 Kenyans according to the Federation of Kenya Employers (FKE), part of them were teachers whom the government absorbed.
"FKE said 70,000 Kenyans have gotten out of jobs, part of those 70,000 are teachers who were working in private schools, who we have hired as government, we have hired 56,000 teachers," he revealed.
Long queues of job seekers in their hundreds wait to hand in their documents at county hall in Nairobi, Kenya. /NATION MEDIA GROUP
Furthermore, the President noted that the government hired an additional 120,000 people into the affordable housing programme, adding that the number would increase.
"By the end of next year we will have 200,000 and 250,000 Kenyans working," he added.
FKE on Friday, November 24 warned that millions of Kenyans risk losing their jobs in the coming days if the cost of doing business continues to be unsustainable due to high taxes that have emerged since the enactment and implementation of the Finance Act 2023.
FKE lamented that the changes as a result of the Finance Act have had an overall negative impact on cash flows.
Financial positions of enterprises have also been negatively affected, which include the direct impact on the payroll, impact on demand for general wages review, risk of business closure and increased laying off of employees.
It revealed that daily, it receives notifications from employers regarding their intent to declare redundancy, adding that between October 2022 and November 2023, 70,000 jobs were lost in the formal private sector, according to a survey FKE undertook to determine the impact of the increased costs on jobs.
"40 per cent of employers have reported that they are planning to reduce the number of employees to meet the increasing costs of operating in Kenya," FKE warned.
Meanwhile, President Ruto underscored that he was not aspiring to make Kenya a popular target for exporting labour to other countries but rather as a country that can produce its workforce.
This is a change of tune from his stance on Sunday, December 10 where she predicted that thousands of Kenyans would leave the country to work abroad, denouncing criticism by Azimio la Umoja leader, Raila Odinga who slammed him for pushing for Kenyans to seek greener pastures in other countries.
"We do not want to be an export destination for others, we also want to produce what we should be producing," he stated.
