Kiambu County Assembly in session. The county has passed a Bill that will see 70 percent of the county's workforce come from within. [Photo/citizentv.co.ke]
The Kiambu County Assembly has passed a motion compelling public and private institutions and businesses operating in the county to get 70 percent of its workforce from the county and must be locals.
Kiambu county majority leader Antony Ikonya, who moved the motion, said that the motion was in line with Article 65 (1) (e) of the County Government Act.
“I note with a lot of concern that Kiambu County has been generous … very generous to people who are from outside this county, to an extent that we do this at the expense of our very own,” said Mr. Ikonya.
This motion will lead to loss of jobs to thousands of nonresidents working in the area.
The motion is also contrary to the spirit of the Constitution since it will divide the country more than uniting it.
The County Government Act, 2012 provides for penalties on counties that do not adhere to the 70:30 employment ratio thereby denying outsiders jobs.
A local TV resident political analyst, Prof Kisiangani on Thursday night said that its all Kenyans are entitled to work anywhere in the country without discriminating through ethnicity.
"What we have seen in Kiambu is just bad manners. A county cannot exclude a person from employment just because they are not a local yet tax is paid by all Kenyans and redistributed to counties," he said
Major public institutions in Kiambu County that could be affected by the directive include Kenyatta University, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT), Mount Kenyatta University, Alliance Boys and Girls schools, 3 campuses of the University of Nairobi, several tea and coffee multi-nationals, drugs manufacturing plants in Kikuyu, as well as hundreds of giant manufacturing firms in within Thika, such as Bidco Oils and Delmonte.