Kenya's culture of jobs for sale only fuels vicious cycle of poverty

Police recruits during rehearsal ahead of passing-out parade at the Kenya Police College, Kiganjo Main Campus in Nyeri County, on August 25, 2026. [Mose Sammy, Standard]

Recent media reports that public service jobs in teaching, policing, and defending the country from external aggression can be sold were not surprising.

The rumour was always there; we just needed some evidence. These jobs many not be prestigious, but they are the first formal jobs in most families.

These jobs also constitute the economic frontline workers. Remember frontline workers during Covid-19?

In a country where joblessness is so high, selling jobs should not be so surprising. The demand for jobs is so high that the job seekers are willing to pay the price.

Job seekers can argue that they will recover their money from salaries. But will the country recover? More on that later. Merit should be the basis of allocating jobs. But almost everyone has the basic qualifications.

I have suggested on numerous occasions that a lottery would be the best option. Get those with minimum qualifications and use a fair lottery to allocate the jobs. After all, we love gambling.

Why should the sale of jobs keep us awake at night? Why does it deserve a headline?

One, it shows the high level of joblessness. If joblessness was low, one could refuse to pay a bribe and try another one.

What makes it worse is that the longer you stay jobless, the more competitors get into the job market as more students graduate. That raises the price of the job as demand goes up. 

It was not always that way. When the population was low, getting a job was never a problem. Someone told me they got three job offers after graduating in 1975.

I got a job offer in Form Two, and I am not that old.  The job opportunities open in Europe today are driven by low population growth. But in Kenya, we want “our children, our choice".

Two, joblessness is driven by our slow economic growth. The demand for goods and services is low because we have no money.

That is why John Keynes called for government intervention to stimulate the economy and build momentum for consumption and investment.

Public projects are one easy way to stimulate the economy, especially when done by Kenyans themselves. 

Easy credit (read low interest rates) makes it easy to borrow for investment or consumption. That creates demand and jobs.

Expectations, confidence and sentiments matter. We consume and invest more if we believe in tomorrow.

We can even spend money we don’t have. How do Kenyans feel about tomorrow? Are we more optimistic or pessimistic?

We need a growth rate of almost 10 per cent to fight joblessness. Targeting foreign markets with our quality goods and services would grow our economy and create jobs.

But we love imports, creating jobs elsewhere. Why should an agriculture-based country like Kenya import food?

Third, and my biggest concern, is that with jobs on the line, we can’t break the vicious cycle of poverty. 

In most families in Kenya, more so in rural areas, joining the police force, the military, teaching, or nursing was the first step into modernity.

They were the first formal jobs and easily available. No bribes; some even turned the jobs down.

The next generation moved up the job hierarchy into the corporate world or the public sector. Check the job description of parents of the captains of industry and Kenyan elite.

Chances are one of the parents was an economic frontline worker. Such jobs were open, giving Kenyans at the lowest echelons of the economy a starting point. 

There was even a joke if someone was jobless:  “Hata ya polisi (even the police force)?”

For many families in Kenya, these jobs changed the family's economic prospects; the conveyor of intergenerational mobility started moving.

When such jobs are sold, the economic gates for most young men and women are closed. Another national risk is that we employ people who want a job but do not work.

That can explain the inefficiencies and nepotism in the public sector. Such employees also feel protected, and productivity is not their goal.

Yet we need an efficient and less bureaucratic system to create more jobs. That is how a country loses.  An economy grows when citizens love work. 

Did I hear some MPs and other representatives are in this job distribution and sales business? They know dishing out jobs is a vote-getter.

They are engaging in favouritism for the elections. Having our MPs and other representatives engage in such behaviour is a sign of “de-institutionalisation”. We have institutions that recruit workers using established laws, regulations and protocols.

By selling jobs, we risk creating a bitter underclass that feels neglected and hopeless. Could that partly explain rising alcoholism and drug abuse among the youth?

We risk nurturing a generation that will never achieve its dreams and aspirations. We risk enhancing the vicious cycle of poverty instead of turning it into the virtuous cycle of wealth.

That is the recipe for social instability. 

The 2024 Gen Z protests demonstrated what a group of bitter citizens can do. Can we return to economic justice?