Pressure On Firms To Create Jobs

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30365, 14 February 1964, Page 11

Pressure On Firms To Create Jobs

(Special Correspondent N.Z.P. A.) LONDON, February 13. The Government of Kenya has “requested” all employers to increase their labour forces by 10 per cent to tackle unemployment, which has become a serious threat, says the “Guardian’s” Nairobi correspondent.

Kenya firms are now calculating how they will be affected by the request. The Minister of Labour (Mr Ngala Mwenda) emphasised that the new measure would not be enforced by law, but when he announced it he said that those firms which did not co-operate would be considered as no longer desiring to enjoy the amenities of the country and share in its future. •

“Immediate action” would be taken against such companies, he said. Some larger companies, including oil concerns, have offered to make available to local authorities the equivalent of the wage bill for their extra quota. The local authorities could employ the men on relief projects. The first effect of the new policy is that farmers and small industries operating on a “shoestring” may be forced out of business if they have to dip into their capital to pay for extra labourers they cannot use. It is also expected that the new agreement will prevent farmers from discharging any more labourers, although many of them are seriously embarrassed by the presence of a large number of squatters, in some cases interfering with farming operations.