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EPZA assures security of 8,000 jobs in Mombasa as new zones are gazetted
UK Prime Minister Trade Envoy to Kenya, Theo Clarke (second left), receives a gift hamper from EPZ Board Chairman Richard Cheruiyot during her recent visit to EPZA Athi River. Also present were PS Abubakar Hassan Abubakar and EPZA Chief Executive Officer Hussein Adan Mohamed (second right).
The management of the Export Processing Zone Authority (EPZA) has allayed fears of massive job losses at the Mombasa-based industrial zone.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the EPZA management assured workers that their jobs are safe, saying that companies that had been marked for closure this year will instead be put under new management.
EPZA further stated that workers in the affected companies will not lose their entitlements as captured in their previous contracts.
Recently, uncertainty gripped the 8,000 workers at Mombasa Apparel EPZ Limited and Ashton Apparel EPZ Limited. The two firms had been earmarked for closure by December 2023.
“EPZA hereby informs and assures the public and affected workers that the EPZ companies are not closing down but are undergoing a change of ownership. There have been ongoing consultations between all relevant stakeholders,'' read part of the letter.
EPZA said the agreement to change the investors of the companies, which was supervised by the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection, was mutual and was approved on October 25, 2023, as required by the Ministry of Trade, Investments and Industry.
According to Export Zone CEO Hussein Adan, the industrial zone is committed to creating and retaining employment opportunities in all its existing companies, as well as putting measures in place to attract more investors.
We have taken measures to ensure that companies strictly adhere to industrial and labour regulations. All our employees are entitled to sound labour practices, which are mandatory in our zones, and therefore our workers should have no fear whatsoever of losing the benefits accrued from their contracts due to a change in the ownership of a company,'' said Adan.
EPZA firms are among the country's key industries with the largest number of employees. For example, EPZA's Athi branch employs more than 20,000 people in various companies. The firms, which are mainly involved in garment making, also have operations in pharmaceuticals and food processing.
The government announced in May that it would set up five more EPZ zones in the country at a cost of about Sh1 billion.
Meanwhile, Cabinet Secretary for Trade, Investments and Industry Rebecca Miano has gazetted three new EPZ zones in Murang'a, Kilifi and Kisumu counties, which will cost Sh530 million and create at least 1,000 new jobs.