By Wakini Njogu
Illustrated by Ernest Kilonzo
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Between April and June 2020, 1.7 million Kenyans lost their jobs.
The youth are the most affected.
Age: 15-19
No. of Unemployed: 493,279
These are high school graduates
Primary or secondary school dropouts
People who weren’t lucky to progress to secondary school due to lack of fees
They are mainly in the informal sector
There are 1.2 million employed Kenyans in this age group
Age: 20-24
No. of Unemployed: 1,213,818
This is the largest unemployed population
Majority are fresh graduates hoping to join the job market
Haven’t joined higher education due to lack of fees
Low employment rate due to low levels of education
Age: 25-29
No. of Unemployed: 1,099,056
Fresh graduates
Often dismissed for lack of work experience
Opportunities available to them are not related to their area of study
Age: 30-34
No. of Unemployed: 618,014
Suffer retrenchments due to economic pressures
Constrained due to familial responsibilities, especially women
This age group makes up the highest number of employed Kenyans at 2.6m
Age: 35-39
No. of Unemployed: 416,606
Age: 40-44
No. of Unemployed: 303,473
Age: 45-49
No. of Unemployed: 243,715
Age: 50-54
No. of Unemployed: 128,503
Age: 55-59
No. of Unemployed: 69,772
Age: 60-64
No. of Unemployed: 49,928
Source: KNBS Quarterly Labour Force Report
When President Uhuru Kenyatta was seeking re-election in 2017 under the Jubilee Party, he
promised to create 1.3 million jobs annually and to work with county governments to establish at
least one industry in every county. The manifesto further promised to establish a
government-sponsored apprenticeship programme of up to 12 months for all graduates from
universites and Technical, Vocational and Education Training Institutes (TVET).
In 2018, 840,600 news jobs were generated, 744,100 being from the informal sector. According to
the Economic Survey, a total of 846,300 new jobs were generated in the economy in 2019. 767,900
of these were from the informal sector.
Click to find out employment initiatives by a Kenyan President
Jomo Kenyatta
Kenya’s First President
Daniel Arap Moi
Kenya’s Second President
Mwai Kibaki
Kenya’s Third President
Uhuru Kenyatta
Kenya’s Fourth President
Jomo Kenyatta
Kenya’s First President
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The National Youth Service (NYS), an organisation under the Government of Kenya,
was established in 1964, just after the late Jomo Kenyatta took power. The core
business of NYS is to train and mentor Kenya's youth through Paramilitary and
regimentation, national building programs and technical and vocational training in
various skills and trades.
Notably, students wishing to join universities were forced to participate in NYS
before admission. This changed in the late 1980s, and now, recruitment is done on
a volunteer basis. Due to high rural unemployment during his regime, there was a
rise in rural-to-urban migration, leading to urban employment.
Daniel Arap Moi
Kenya’s Second President
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The late Daniel Moi chose to focus on fostering prosperity and building the
agricultural sector as a way of boosting the economy. He established
environmental projects such as building gabions and planting trees.
Unemployment rates rose steadily during the Moi regime prompting the opposing
Rainbow Coalition to use the promise of empowerment to win the 2002 General
Election.
Mwai Kibaki
Kenya’s Third President
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The Kenya Youth Empowerment Programme (KYEP) was launched in 2010 during
Kibaki’s regime under the Office of the Prime Minister. It had two components;
Public Works (Kazi Kwa Vijana) and Private-sector internships and training in
partnership with the Kenya Private Sector Alliance.
A year into the project, an audit was conducted which revealed improper payment
procedures, irregular transactions in breach of legal agreements, expenditures
unrelated to the project, amongst other irregularities. The project closed in 2016.
Uhuru Kenyatta
Kenya’s Fourth President
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In September 2013, President Uhuru launched the Uwezo Fund, a flagship
programme for Vision 2030, which aims at enabling women, youth and persons
with disability access financing to promote businesses and enterprises at the
constituency level.
In April 2020, his government launched the National Hygiene Program, otherwise
known as Kazi Mtaani, to cushion residents of informal settlements who are
above eighteen years of age and are unable to find work due to the disruption of
normal economic activity brought about by COVID-19. This program only targets
able-bodied people. Kenya has recorded the highest number of unemployment
cases during the Uhuru regime.
The 2019 Kenya Population and Housing Census indicates that a total of 506,109 were in TVET, 470,983
in University and 18,750 in Adult Basic Education during the survey period. This group will be graduating
at a time when the government has frozen hiring of new civil servants for the next three years,
including internships.
Kenya is staring at a mounting crisis of youth unemployment even as the country faces tough economic
times. Kenyan graduates are increasingly competing for few formal jobs, leading to a mismatch of
careers and skills. We followed four young Kenyan graduates who have faced different hurdles while
looking for employment. These are their stories.
Michael Oyier, 26
Graduated with a Bachelor Degree in Computer Science from Maseno University.
Currently works under the Kazi Mtaani initiative in Mathare. Earns Ksh 450 per day.
Viona Kurui, 33 years old
Viona studied Bachelor of Business Administration (Marketing) at Baraton University and graduated in 2015. She now runs a food kiosk at
her home town in Kabarnet after years of job searching.
Edwin Lulu, 24 years old
Edwin graduated in 2019 with a Diploma in Orthopaedic Technology from Kenya Medical Training College. He works
as a supervisor at a bottle recycling company.
Bertrand Mussoko, 30 years old
Batrand was working as a PR consultant in Dubai. When the COVID-19 crisis struck in the UAE, he was retrenched and had to fly back
home. Together with a colleague who lost her job as well in Dubai, they started a poultry farming business.
Jomo Kenyatta 
Daniel Arap Moi 
Mwai Kibaki 
Uhuru Kenyatta 
