Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Alfred Mutua has announced radical changes of employment of Kenyans in the diaspora.
Mutua said the government will no longer be sending Kenyans for state missions but instead, the assignments will be allocated to Kenyans living abroad.
According to Mutua, the move is aimed at reducing expenditures and optimizing resource allocation.
“I shared with them that as part of my strategy to reduce the cost of running missions, we will be hiring Kenyans residing in the countries where we have missions to work for us, instead of exporting staff from Nairobi,” Mutua said.
The CS was speaking in a meeting with Kenyans living in Sydney, Australia organized by the Kenyan High Commission in Australia.
He said there will be changes in service delivery at Kenyan embassies across the world to enable Kenyans working abroad to access their documents with ease.
“Kenyans in Sydney are a vibrant lot with a lot of ideas on how to improve their lives and how to change Kenya. We discussed consular services and my goal in the near future for IDs and passports to be printed at our embassies and issued chap chap to deserving Kenyans,” Mutua said.
“We also looked at the challenges faced by Kenyans in getting their visas, their nursing permits and how to transmit funds back home.”
Mutua also said Kenyans in the diaspora complained of harassment at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport where gifts for their families were being confiscated on arrival.
He assured them that the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) will have to change and adapt to international best practices for arriving guests.
The CS further said the government is seeking a bilateral labour agreement with Australia to allow Kenyans to emigrate as seasonal workers.
“This coming week, I will be engaging senior Australian officials to discuss how to better partner with Australia for the mutual benefit of both countries,” he said.
“We discussed my plans for a bilateral Labour agreement and negotiations with Australia to allow Kenyans to come and work as seasonal workers.”
While recognizing the work of the State Department of diaspora, Mutua encouraged the Kenyans to work together and support each other.
