The minimum wage order – Amri ya kima cha chini cha mshahara ya mwaka 2022 (old order); shall cease to be in use (revoked) from the 1st of January 2026. This is per the Labour Institutions (minimum wage for private sector) orders, 2025 (new order) as issued on the 13th October 2025.
The new 2025 order endeavours to rearrange, break down and remodel the sectors found in the 2022 order and at the same time revising extensively the remuneration rates for each sector and sub sector.
First Schedule
The 2022 Order had 13 sectors listed – (a) to (m) but the new order has 16. The increase comes as a result of breaking down some of the old sectors and introducing new ones. Evidently, there existed the Domestic Work or Services, Hotel and Hospitality services in the old order but the same have been broken down into two (02) sectors namely Domestic work or Services and Hotel and Hospitality Services. The new order also introduces a new sector; Sports, arts, entertainment, gaming activities.
Second Schedule.
The new 2025 Order restructures the sectors while at the same time raising the rates of remuneration in hourly, daily, weekly, fortnightly and monthly basis.
The Agricultural sector was a single sector with no sub sectors but in the new 2025 Order it provides for three distinct sub sectors namely crop or animal production and undertaking or activities related to agriculture; Forestry and deforestation of trees and Fishing and fish farming or aquaculture.
The Health sector is broken down to five sub sectors; Hospital; Health centre; Polyclinic; Dispensary and Pharmacy.
The Communication sector has been remodelled into an elaborate sector by breaking it into sub sectors; Programme Advertising and media; Telecommunication services and Call Centre.
The 2025 Order also separates the Domestic work Service sector from the Hotel and hospitality services. It goes further to break down the Hotel and Hospitality Services sector into sub sectors basing on the stars acquired by the hotel. In the old order, sub sectors were based on size, that is big, medium, lodges, cafes and bars. Also under this sector, the new order introduces three new sub sectors namely; Tourist luggage porter; Tour guide and Hunting and Related activities.
Also, whereas the sub sector Postal and courier services formerly appeared under Communications sector as a sub sector, it features in the new order as a sub sector to the Transport and Shipping sector.
What appears as a sector without subsectors in the old order, Private schools services sector, has now been broken down into several independent subsectors; Pre and Primary; Secondary Schools; Colleges or Vocational Training and Higher education Institutions.
The new order, under the Financial Institutions sub sector, creates several unique mini subsectors namely Commercial banks; Community Service banks; Micro credit financial services and Insurance companies. In the old order, financial institutions were collectively treated as a single sub sector.
Notably, the 2025 Order introduces new sectors; those of Sports, arts & entertainment and gaming and that of Waste Collection, processing and disposal activities.
The impressiveness in the new order is its ability to grasp and reflect growth in the private sector. While at it, reflecting the same in terms of encompassing all the sectors, new and old and formulating new comparative rates.