Kenya Power to Lay Off 1,900 Workers in Sh5.3 Billion Early Retirement Plan

Kenya Power is set to lay off 1,962 employees in a move aimed at cutting payroll expenses at the State-run utility company.

Nation reports that the phased voluntary employee separation (VES) exercise will see 20% of Kenya Power members of staff who are largely aging laid off and replaced with a younger group.

Kenya Power acting CEO Rosemary Oduor says the company will hire 830 younger employees at a cheaper cost to replace the laid-off workers.

“The company, because of low attrition rate, has an ageing and expensive workforce resulting in staff cost growing at nearly twice the rate of revenue growth,” Oduor said in an internal circular dated January 24th.

The power supplier plans to spend Sh5.3 billion on the program that will be implemented in May through June 2023. The retrenchment exercise will see the current Kenya Power workforce reduce from 9,843 to 8,711.

“In an environment where low operational costs and agility are critical requirements, productivity and quality of service have been negatively impacted,” Oduor noted.

“This calls for the company to put in place a human capital focused on a business sustainability plan that will enhance effective customer engagement, manage staff costs and infuse agility while at the same time managing knowledge transfer.”

In November last year, all Kenya Power employees were ordered to declare their financial and asset records as part of a lifestyle audit aimed at curbing fraud at the company.

Kenya Power Human Resource General Manager in a memo asked employees to submit certified copies of their financial records including bank account and mobile money statements for the last six months. 

They were also required to give details of their residential addresses over the past five years, the ownership status of current residence, power and water meter numbers, and list immediate family members, business associates, agents, and associations.

The workers were also directed to present a list of all movable and immovable assets they own, stocks and shares, three-year income-tax returns receipts, social media handles, and a list of liabilities.