According to the President, Kenyan workers are highly educated, reliable and in high demand globally due to their discipline and minimal need for supervision.
Speaking at the launch hosted by the State Department for Diaspora Affairs and the Ministry of Labour, Ruto highlighted recent reforms aimed at protecting Kenyan migrant workers and enhancing international job placements.
He noted that out of 1,600 private recruitment agencies that were previously operating, nearly 900 were deregistered due to malpractice and non-compliance with new regulations.
“We demanded that any job placement be uploaded on a government portal as the move has been designed to track the welfare of Kenyans working abroad,” Ruto said.
“We must know where they are going, who is employing them, what they are being paid and what kind of job they are doing. That way, we can ensure their safety and facilitate their return home when necessary.”
According to Ruto, this streamlined process has resulted in the placement of over 400,000 Kenyans in overseas jobs over the past two years.
He credited this success to tighter government oversight, crackdowns on fraudulent recruitment practices and strong command of English by Kenyans.
Ruto also celebrated a significant increase in diaspora remittances, which have risen from Sh480 billion in 2022 to Sh594 billion in 2024.
“That’s nearly a billion dollars more coming into our economy, thanks to the increased number of Kenyans now working abroad,” he said.
On June 19, 2025, Ruto announced plans to make multilingualism a key national priority.
The Head of State urged Kenyans to learn foreign languages, such as German, French, Chinese, and Spanish, to better compete in the global arena.
Speaking during the opening of the Third National Executive Retreat in Kajiado, President Ruto stated that the government is collaborating with institutions to equip more Kenyans with international language skills.
“We are working on making sure that more Kenyans can speak more than one language, like German, Chinese, French and Spanish. That is our next horizon,” Ruto said.
“The Ministry of Diaspora is working with different
institutions to facilitate this.”
