Deputy President Kithure Kindiki has insisted that the Kenya Kwanza administration is committed to creating more jobs and improving the lives of all Kenyans.
Speaking on Tuesday, Kindiki said that job creation was a significant part of the current administration's manifesto, and it remains one of the key priority areas for the President William Ruto-led government.
“A big way of enhancing these household incomes is by employment and job creation. We have also agreed to pursue this agenda through the one government approach, through a multi-agency, collaborative approach of one government delivering as one,” the DP said during an appraisal and stocktaking briefing to track progress made and ways for accelerating programmes for the creation of local and diaspora jobs.
He went on to note that the government is taking several measures, including the international labor mobility program that seeks to have as many Kenyans as possible employed in countries abroad.
Kindiki said the government is doing so through a number of engagements with countries that have bilateral relations with Kenya.
“The programme is ongoing even where the bilateral labor agreement is still being discussed. The recruitment and placement are already in course, pending the finalization of the legal framework.”
The Deputy President noted that the government is also looking at the creation of digital jobs through content creation, business processing, and outsourcing jobs virtually, and to facilitate this, the government is keen on creating 1,450 ICT Hubs in each ward in the country by 2027.
He said that so far, 272 ICT hubs have been set up across the country and are operational.
“The government believes that the Affordable Housing Programme is one of the initiatives that will create direct jobs locally by giving experts, whether masons, welders, electricians, carpenters, caterers, and all manner of businesses to get gainful employment through the ongoing projects, but also other suppliers in the housing industry; manufacturers of windows, doors, and other items, including water engineering equipment and so many other things that go into a house,” Kindiki said.
He added that the government is also creating jobs through the public sector placements, and already more than 76,000 teachers have been employed in the last two years, with 3,300 lecturers placed.
The DP said the state has also employed seafarers and other people in the blue economy space, among other areas.
“We are also in the process in the same space of job creation, rolling out a recognition of prior learning certification process, and already 2,900 have been certified through this recognition of prior learning. 2,900 graduates have been certified through TVETs and an additional 4,000 through the National Industrial Training Authority (NITA).”
Kindiki further noted that while the state is on track in having all these in place, a lot still needs to be done.
He appealed to Kenyans to take stock at the multifaceted effort the government has put in place to sort out the issue of job creation.
The appraisal meeting was attended by Cabinet Secretaries Dr. Alfred Mutua (Labour and Social Protection) and Dr. Margaret Ndung'u (Information, Communication, and the Digital Economy), Principal Secretaries Shadrack Mwadime (Labour and Skills Development), Roseline Njogu (Diaspora Affairs), John Tanui (Information, Communications, and the Digital Economy), Dr. Esther Muoria (Technical, Vocational Education, and Training), Dr. Juma Mukhwana (Industry), and Geoffrey Kaituko (Shipping and Maritime Affairs), among other senior state officers.
