Little to celebrate on Labour Day

By Luke Anami

As workers congregate today at Uhuru Park for Labour Day celebrations, the future still looks bleak due to the global recession that is threatening to push thousands of them out of jobs.

Already, over 10,000 jobs have been lost. Now faced with inflation and low purchasing power, there is no respite in sight for the Kenyan labourer. "In the past one year, the number of employees affected by lay-offs has already exceeded 8,000; without putting into consideration the closure of Pan-Paper Mills, Webuye, with over 1,500 permanent employees and the anticipated lay-offs in hundreds at Telcom (K)," the Minister for Labour John Munyes said this week.

"Statistics indicate that of the working age population (15 to 64 years), 1.9 million Kenyans are unemployed, whereas, according to Vision 2030, it is envisaged that by 2012, the working age population will be 23 million, with unemployment still at its highest (49 per cent)," said Munyes.

Stalked by poverty

While all this is going on, the political class are engaged in endless bickering.

The question on everyone’s lips is who is going to save the situation as the majority of workers are stalked by poverty everyday.

Kenyans are increasingly getting worried that instead of politicians focusing on key development concerns they are focusing on partisan issues which at best will continue dividing Kenyans along party and tribal lines. This trend needs to be reversed if we have to attract investors and expect economic recovery.

To cushion the economy from the economic volatility and consequent social upheavals arising from the loss of employment and income, a salvage plan through training of manpower, is needed to sustain growth and strengthen the domestic economic fundamentals within the context of a global economy.

We need to create more jobs for its youthful population. The many plans that have been put in place since independence need to be acted on now and not tomorrow.

Kenya’s optimism has been dampened further as world petroleum prices skyrocket leading to unprecedented high domestic inflation which has been worsened by world food shortages as well as limited domestic supply.

 

 

Read all about:

 

 

|   |    |   Add Comment |    Comments (0)

---