President William Ruto has promised that his government will sign ten new bilateral agreements in Europe, North America and the Middle East which will see Kenyans get jobs abroad.
Speaking during the Labour Day celebrations at Uhuru Gardens in Nairobi, Ruto said that the first bilateral agreement will be signed this week between Kenya and German when he meets German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
“We have very many countries asking for Kenyan workers. The German chancellor will be here on Thursday and we will sign bilateral labour agreements that will see Kenyans get opportunities in the 250 million jobs Germany has on offer every year,” said Ruto.
The government, according to Ruto, is eying job opportunities for Kenyans in Canada and Saudi Arabia.
“We have opportunities in Canada, the USA, UAE, Saudi Arabia… we will sign ten agreements in the next couple of months so that our youth get these opportunities,” Ruto said. The President said that foreign remittances now stand at Ksh400 billion every year, more than what the country earns from the export of tea, coffee or horticulture. “The money we get yearly from Kenyans in the diaspora is Ksh.400 billion. That is even more than what we get from our tea, coffee or horticulture exports,” he added.
“Many nations have built their economies by organising job opportunities for their citizens in other countries, so as we plan on creating jobs locally, we are also doing the same abroad.” Ruto has also promised to harmonise the remuneration police for workers in both the public and the private sectors. “We are going to have a new wages and remuneration policy. We want to change the difference that exists between public and private sector employees. We must harmonise how we treat all our workers,” he said. “It’s very sad that after working for about 40 of 50 years, many Kenyan workers retire to poverty… How can you be leaders in the labour movement when the people you lead end up retiring in poverty?”
