I remember that on the 19th of December 2023 at the OKOA UCHUMI Peoples National Recovery Conference which was hosted at Bomas of Kenya I rose up to address some members of Parliament specifically in regards to the Governments then harassment at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) of Diaspora returnees at immigration desk
The discussion then morphed and matured to the role of Diaspora in Kenya Economically when I said that Diaspora has taken over the role of Government in Education, Health, Unemployment and Pensions benefits of Kenyan Citizens under an assumed Corporation Social Responsibility (CSR)
– Advertisement –
A quick glance at the numbers confirm that in 2023 Diaspora remittances were pegged at KSh 671 Billion (US$ 4.19Billion) Higher than Ministry of Tourism and enough to consider that Diaspora could be a Ministry by its own right!
Fast forward to 2024 & current 2025, Diaspora remittance inflows reached an all-time high of USD $4.95 billion in 2024 compared to USD $4.19 billion in 2023, an increase of 18.0 percent and current remittances surged 12.1% to $5.08 Billion.
.
The Key question that everyone should be asking is, Why is this ‘ministry’ that’s Called ‘Diaspora’ the only Performing Ministry in the Kenya Kwanza Government with an increase in Remittances yet has no Political leader, Staff or an office per se?
Is the increase in Remittances from Diaspora a positive sign on the Country’s development agenda with Diaspora Citizens investing highly or is it a band-aid to compensate for the Governments failure in Employment, Health and education meaning that it’s the Diaspora families that uphold and maintain the daily upkeep of their relatives while the Government continues to create the misconception of jobs abroad!
– Advertisement –
This begs the thought, If there was no Diaspora what would be;
1) The true unemployment rate in Kenya
2) The Number of Uneducated Children
3) Mortality rate if Diaspora was not helping families with medical bills
4) The fate of the retired and Pensionable
These are hard questions we need to reflect on as Government begins household survey to determine amounts and usage of foreign currency Kenyans receive from abroad; we hope this survey is well intentioned and not geared towards taking more from households in punitive measures.
The Social Health Authority (SHA) has failed to an extent it’s slowly reverting back to the old National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) by re-introducing the biometric identification of patients in a reversal aimed at curbing corruption putting an end to the troubled One time Password (OTP)
It is thus fair to say, Give Diaspora their well deserved accolades and praise for keeping the Country afloat provided ‘ services’ that hitherto were supposed to be Citizens benefits from Government if this was a Government that was performing and providing as it should all services that are already paid for by Taxpayers money!
Diaspora needs it’s recognition and place in this Country’s affairs not just as a department but as a serious ‘Ministry’ whose work in Fundraising for the sick, keeping poor children in schools, Maintaining households daily upkeep and sustain a cash flow in the Country where banks have hoarded funding to lend to an insatiable Government leaving Small Medium businesses (SMEs) at the mercy of Shylocks and predatory Microfinance Institutions
As an economist I borrow from a fellow economist and former Strathmore lecturer Professor Fred Ogola who said recently that Kenya needs to E.V.O.L.V.E and evolve we shall because we cant keep on looking for way to destroy good things with bad laws and it’s unfortunate that we now have a house of representatives (The Legislative assembly) whose members since 2013 have made it their sole purpose to water down the Constitution of Kenya (COK 2010) by destroying that which is already working to satisfy their greed not remembering that they will not always be in house and Their future generations might become victims of the same bad laws!
One bad law that Parliament has seriously aimed to entrench in the Constitution even disregarding the Constitutional need for referendum that will continue to hurt Diaspora more is the National Government Constituency Development Fund (NG/CDF) because we can’t Politicize Education and use it as a weapon against the poor because we want to control their voting patterns and how they vote!
Members of Parliament have failed to see the big Kenyan dream where education is a Country’s Sovereign wealth! I do not have a problem with them fighting to control and keep the Constituency ‘Development’ fund part of the package but they NEED to stop holding children hostage through Education!
It’s very clear now that what we call Bursary can be packaged into one budget as a Ministry of Education yearly fund then the Members of Parliament (MPs) can do what is their sole responsibility of making laws and serving their Constituents, They can work with their Constituencies Members of County assembly (MCAs) and identify, collage and submit needy children to the Ministry of Education for capitation without embarrassing parents seem like paupers lining up for a Child’s constitutional right to education or holding Citizens hostage by weaponizing education.
Kenyans in Diaspora want to help but they are also tired of repeated Leadership shenanigans always messing with the Country in one form or another! Let Diaspora be and as the number one revenue source seconded only by Tourism industry have their respect and recognition but Government needs to take back its role to provide services not make Diaspora seem like a partner in a self inflicted Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) mis-adventure.
By Charles Ole Kabaiku
About Author: Economist & National Sovereign Wealth Fund (NSWF) Promoter
