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Government Spokesperson Isaac Mwaura announced today that 43,976 public servants are expected to retire in the next five years, creating job opportunities for the youth.

Speaking during a weekly press briefing at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) on Thursday, August 22, 2024, Mwaura disclosed that this year alone, over 7,000 public servants will retire, paving the way for young Kenyans to step into these roles.

“In total, the number of people who will be retiring in the next five years will be over 43,976 people,” Mwaura stated.

Adding;

“This year alone, 7,000 people are retiring.”

Mwaura clarified that these figures include those on permanent pensionable contracts as well as those employed on fixed-term contracts. In total, these retirements are expected to create over 46,000 job vacancies.

Ruto on retirement

This announcement follows a directive issued by President William Ruto on July 5, 2024, requiring public servants aged 60 and above to proceed to retirement.

Ruto announced measures aimed at reducing government expenses. He stated that there would be no extensions of service for public servants aged 60 and above.

“Henceforth, public servants who attain the retirement age of 60 years shall be required to immediately proceed with retirement,” President Ruto said.

“They are directed to do this with no extensions to their tenure of service,” he added.

Ruto highlighted that the withdrawal of the Finance Bill, 2024, has led to a significant reduction in revenue targets by Ksh346 billion. The National Treasury has been evaluating the potential impact of either reducing the national budget by the full amount or opting to borrow the funds instead.

“These measures will be followed by changes in government that I shall be announcing,” Ruto stated.

He emphasized that cutting the entire Ksh346 billion would severely disrupt the delivery of essential government services.

As part of the government’s commitment to stricter austerity measures, Ruto assured that government spending will be adjusted to reflect the financial consequences of the Finance Bill’s withdrawal.

“I believe these changes will set our country on a trajectory towards economic take-off, enabling us to achieve the strategic objectives of the bottom-up economic transformation agenda,” Ruto declared.