Kenya has once again raised the official retirement age upwards to 94 years, setting the record for both the highest retirement age and youth unemployment in the world.
In a statement that was issued by the Ministry of Labour, the government announced that the new development was to help streamline the already unofficial policy where the government has a number of staff who are well advanced in years.
With most of the civil servants nearing the retirement age, the government has come with the innovative plan of keeping them working so that they can mentor the young people and also since they are highly skilled. This could also be due to the reason that there is no money to pay their pension, so working will be a sure way of making them pay their bills.
The government also insisted that the new policy will lead to Kenyans living longer because they have more to look forward to.
“Raising the retirement age is a direct expression of the government’s resolve to raise the life expectancy in Kenya. We cannot work for a longer life expectancy when we are forcing people to retire at 55. If people have it in their mind that they should retire at 94, they will live even longer than 94 years. In the future, we hope that people can live forever.”
Youthful Concerns
While this may lock many youths out of jobs because no one will be retiring unless death comes (which could come even for the young people), there is a good side of it for the young people in Kenya.
The Ministry of Labour said that there are new opportunities for the youthful. “With the retirement age at 94, the youthful age has been revised to 55 and you can still hope to get a government job at the age of 60. It is a win win situation.”
