NAIROBI, Kenya – Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has announced that the Kenya Kwanza administration has created more than 1.5 million jobs and income-generating opportunities over the last two years, even as the government grapples with the challenge of youth unemployment.
Speaking after a progress briefing with various state departments and agencies involved in employment programmes, Kindiki said the jobs span sectors such as public service, affordable housing, digital work, and overseas labour mobility.
“We’ve registered quite some success through the employment statistics we have at the moment, for jobs created in public service, affordable housing and market construction programmes, Climate WorX, among others,” said the DP.
According to Kindiki, about 400,000 jobs have been created in the public sector, including 76,000 for teachers.
The government’s flagship affordable housing programme has added another 200,000 jobs, driven by large-scale construction of housing units and market infrastructure across the country.
Digital platforms have also emerged as a key employment pillar, with approximately 500,000 Kenyans said to have benefited from online jobs and income streams.
The labour mobility programme, which facilitates employment abroad, has so far secured 393,000 opportunities for Kenyan workers in the international market.
“Much More Potential,” Says Kindiki
Despite the figures, Kindiki acknowledged that the current pace is not enough to absorb the estimated one million young people entering the labour market each year.
“Labour mobility is on course—393,000 in the last two years—it can be better. If you are absorbing less than half of new jobseekers, the accumulation is what is giving us the youth bulge without jobs,” he warned.
He noted that some of the job-creation programmes still face infrastructure and policy bottlenecks.
In particular, he pointed to the digital economy, saying its potential remains underutilized due to limited ICT infrastructure.
“We are making strides in the digital jobs programme, but we need to invest more in ICT hubs and tidy up the digital workspace,” he said.
Next Phase of Job Programmes
To address the growing employment gap, Kindiki said the government will soon scale up new initiatives, including the National Youth Opportunities Towards Advancement (NYOTA), the Kenya Jobs and Economic Transformation (KJET) programme, and other income-generating projects.
The DP maintained that job creation remains a top priority for the Kenya Kwanza administration and urged relevant ministries and agencies to eliminate red tape slowing down implementation.
