ICT CS nominee Kabogo vows to tackle pay disparities for Kenyan digital workers

ICT Cabinet Secretary (CS) nominee William Kabogo plans to introduce a raft of new laws and regulations to protect Kenyan workers in the digital economy from being exploited by global corporations not governed by Kenya’s employment laws, should his ministerial nomination be approved by Parliament.

Kabogo made the remarks on Tuesday when he appeared before the National Assembly’s Committee on Appointments for vetting after Majority Leader Kimani Ichung'wah raised concerns about unfair compensation practices affecting Kenyan workers in the digital tech sector.

“What policy proposals would you bring to ensure that the big tech companies first conform to our labour laws and that they are not exploiting our people because they are in a weak position? They are taking advantage of our students,” Ichung'wah said.

“They can be paid two dollars, around Ksh.300 per hour, but in the U.S., nobody will be paid 2 dollars for whatever task they are given. As much as we are in a third-world country, big tech companies are taking advantage of our tech-savvy youth who are a resource to Kenya and the world. Therefore, they ought to be compensated properly.”

In response, the former Kiambu Governor acknowledged that Kenyans working for global companies are being dealt a bad hand. He added that the problem is not only global but also local, as Kenyans working in the digital space, such as content creators, are not earning what they should be.

“It is not only affecting Kenyans on outside jobs but also local content creators like musicians that put their stuff on Youtube; they rarely get value for their content. So, I should be able to bring into Parliament a bill that should be able to regulate how much money content creators are paid,” he said.

Kabogo similarly lamented the presence of brokers in the digital economy, whom he claims are swindling content creators of their hard-earned money.

“Just like the coffee industry, there are brokers in this business of the digital economy who take advantage. You’d be surprised that probably a job like that pays USD 200 and only 20 or 10 dollars

Additionally, Kabogo acknowledged the complications involved in implementing such regulations in the digital economy.

“I should be at the forefront, bringing laws and amendments so that our labour laws are applicable but again challenges for enforcement are something we will need to worry about. How to enforce because the employment agency is an American agency or British …so how do we apply them (laws) here and those are things that the technical people in the ministry should be able to advice.”