President William Ruto has announced plans of changing laws so that remote jobs could be recognized in the country.
In his speech, during the Youthconnekt Africa Summit at KICC, the head of state said that in the current age, it doesn’t matter where one is working from as long as they are earning a living but the Kenyan law is yet to appreciate that.
“We have a new model of jobs that our laws do not see. Shorty, we will be changing the law in Kenya so that it begins to appreciate that there are remote jobs that do not require you to be in an office.
“It won’t matter that you’ll be in an office, whether your hair is combed or you are in a suit. Some people do not believe that someone can be in a t-shirt at home and working. They believe that someone has to be in the office, with a boss sitting somewhere,” he said.
He went on to mock a court ruling that directed a remote employee to get an employment letter from a foreign company he/she was working for.
“We have a very interesting case in court, where the court ruled that if you are working in Nairobi for a company in the United States of America, you must get a letter of appointment. That is ridiculous. Are you interested in a letter of appointment or are you interested in working and obtaining a salary?” he posed.
Ruto further said that the government is partnering with Google to equip students with IT skills through coding.
The programme is aimed at ensuring that they have jobs once they complete their courses.
The president added that those who will successfully undergo the programme will be pocketing Kshs420,000 in a month.
