USAID shutdown should follow all employment-related laws

People protest against US President Donald Trump's decision to shut down the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in Washington, DC, on February 5, 2025. [AFP]

On January 20, 2025, US President Donald Trump signed dozens of Executive Orders. One Order provides for a 90-day pause in US foreign development assistance for assessment of programmatic efficiencies and consistency with US foreign policy. Following this, there was a resolve to shut down USAID across the globe.

USAID and organisations funded by it were immediately forced to close down and lay off staff. What then is the implication of such drastic lay-offs on employment contracts, specifically in Kenya? The employment relationship in Kenya is governed by Article 41 of the Constitution, the Labour Relations Act and the Employment Act, among other laws. In the case at hand, USAID and other related organisations have three main options on which to base disengagement of their employees. One is to send their employees on unpaid leave, two is to terminate their contracts on the basis of frustration and three is termination based on redundancy. Let's discuss each.