A total of 43,946 civil servants will retire in the next five years, as part of austerity measures mooted by President William Ruto last month in the wake of the recent anti-government protests.

In a statement to newsrooms on Thursday, Government Spokesperson Isaac Mwaura highlighted that estimates from the government’s June 2024 payroll had indicated that the said public officers aged 55 years and above, will have attained the mandatory age for retirement between 2024 and 2029.

“The government wishes to report that this Presidential directive is being implemented. A total of 39,361 civil servants are expected to retire within the next five years, based on the June 2024 payroll,” he said.

”The payroll indicates that 43,976 officers are aged 55 years and above and are expected to retire between this year and 2029, with 7,662 expected to retire in this financial year alone.”

Mwaura added that 7,477 civil servants had retired between September 2023 and June 2024, leaving employment opportunities for Kenyan youth.

“This is in addition to 7,477 officers who retired between 13th September 2023 and 30th June 2024 from State Departments, County Executives, and County Assemblies.”

Mwaura added that 39,441 officers are serving the government on contractual terms, with their contracts expiring on various dates depending on their periods of engagement.

“This creates 46,838 job opportunities for our jobless youth to serve in the government either on permanent or contractual terms upon the retirement and expiry of current contracts,” he said.