ELDORET – Kenya is seeking to export at least one million jobs, President William Ruto has said.
Speaking during the opening of the Devolution conference in Eldoret, Uasin Gishu county, President Ruto said his government promised during the campaigns that they would increase the remittances from $4 billion to $10 billion or Sh1 trillion.
“You have heard from the American Ambassador [Meg Whitman] that companies are giving accounts that our Kenyan workforce, human resource is the best globally, we must be deliberate about how do we harness this world class human capital to drive our economy and progress..
“We are working to make sire that we can export this world-class labour. I want to thank the many countries that have given us opportunities to export our labour. I have given very clear instructions to [Labour CS] Florence [Bore] she knows what she must do to at least get one million job exports from Kenya,” the President said.
“I want to thank the many countries that have given us the opportunity to export our labour. We want to get at least one million exports from Kenya,” he said.
Kenya posted an increase in foreign remittance inflows in June 2023 to $ 345.9 million compared to $326.1 million in June 2022, an increase of 6.1 per cent.
Data from the Central Bank of Kenya also show the cumulative remittances inflows for the past year to June 2023 remained steady at $ 4,017 million compared to $ 4,012 million over a similar period in 2022, an increase of 0.1 per cent.
CBK Diaspora Remittances Surveys show inflows to the country have increased tenfold over the past decade, reaching an all-time record of $4.027 billion (Sh559.57 billion) in 2022.
Reports by various institutions including Parliament, the Ombudsman and NGOs have established that the Kenyan government’s failure to develop a comprehensive policy and legal framework continues to put at risk thousands of Kenyan migrant workers in the Middle East, especially in the Gulf region.
On August 2, CS Bore appeared before Parliament to respond to questions raised by MPs and highlighted the steps the ministry has taken to streamline the Labour migration and in particular within the Kingdom of Saudi.
Among the measures being put in place include the draft Labour Migration Bill 2023 , which CS Bore says has introduced additional clauses to regulate recruitment agencies and hold them more accountable to the persons recruited through their agencies. The Bill has also defined illegal recruitment and proposed hefty penalties.
The government is also making efforts to secure more opportunities abroad, with Diaspora PS Roseline Njogu making recent trips to Hong Kong China and the Philippines to seek more opportunities.
