President William Ruto announced that the government is in talks with online working platform, Remotasks, to resume operations in Kenya.
The Head of State made the announcement while engaging with young Kenyans during the opening of Njoro Technical Training Institute in Nakuru County.
The youthful men and women asked Ruto to negotiate with the company on their behalf, noting that most of them depended on the platform to earn a living.
In response, the President said he had instructed the relevant ministry to negotiate on the way forward enabling the company to resume operations in Kenya.
“We need to renegotiate with Remotasks because that is the problem I was informed about. I have already instructed the ministry to engage them but they have said we need a framework so that there will be somebody ultimately responsible,” Ruto said.
In 2021, Remotasks put out an announcement via a blog post that they were welcoming Kenyans on board.
The word spread around very quickly, and reached a point where they drastically reduced or stopped onboarding more Kenyans all together.
However, those who still held their accounts have continued earning on the platform.
However, in March 2024, Remotasks sent a notification to all Kenyan account holders, informing them of their decision to end operations in the country.
“We are reaching out with an important announcement regarding Remotasks operations in your location. We are discontinuing operations in your current location effective March 8, 2024. As part of this change, you have been off-boarded from your current project,” the message read in part.
The platform stopped operations in Kenya after a college student was captured in a viral video introducing Ruto to the Remotasks concept.
Brian Kipchumba, a student pursuing a diploma in ICT, sparked online debate after showing Ruto the website, saying it fetches him over Ksh 26,000 a week.
Kipchumba who met Ruto at Jitume ICT Laboratories in Mosop Nandi County, displayed his workbench indicating that he pocketed Ksh 40,000 after a task he did from December.
“I have been working online since December 26, 2023, until now. As you can see, the total amount of money I have earned is Ksh 45,000. Minus the taxes, you get, like Ksh 40,000,” Kipchumba said.