William Ruto noted that jobs outside Kenya for the country’s youth are paramount to the adoption of global skills and diverse work experience, which can be brought home and utilized.
“We are committed to expanding quality job opportunities for our young people through the Labour Mobility Programme, helping to equip them to acquire global experience and skills that they ultimately bring back home to support Kenya’s development,” he stated.
The president reiterated this sentiment following a bilateral meeting with Qatar’s Labor Minister, Ali bin Saeed bin Samikh Al Marri, on the fringes of the United Nations Social Development Summit in Doha.
Both officials agreed on additional steps to boost labor cooperation.
The meeting included a discussion to operationalize a Qatari Visa Center in Nairobi by early 2026.
This move is anticipated to streamline and expedite the processing of employment visas, remove bureaucratic obstacles, and improve monitoring to shield Kenyan workers from exploitation by dishonest recruiters.
“This milestone will streamline the movement of Kenyan workers to Qatar, eliminate past bottlenecks, and strengthen oversight to safeguard our citizens from rogue recruitment practices,” Kenya’s president said.
The President also commended Qatar’s offer of 13,000 more jobs for talented and professional Kenyans, bringing the total number of Kenyans working in the Gulf country to roughly 90,000, as seen in The Star.
This initiative is a year removed from the refugee problem that both countries shared.
Kenyans tagged refugees in Qatar
Kenya’s Labor and Social Protection Cabinet Secretary, Alfred Mutua, disclosed back in October 2024 that there are at least 5,000 Kenyan refugees in Qatar, a country in the Middle East.
He pointed out that “rogue agents” were to blame for this since they had flown the gullible victims to the Gulf State with the assurance that they would find employment.
“Currently, we’ve got 5,000 Kenyans stuck in Qatar living as refugees. They were taken there during the World Cup period. Some of the promised jobs they have never realized themselves, and because they have paid Sh200,000 to Sh250,000, they have refused to come back until they get a job,” the cabinet secretary disclosed at the time.
“5,000 Kenyans who are being fed by the International Organization of Migration every day in Qatar, and it’s because of these rogue agents in our country,” he added.
