Labour Cabinet Secretary Florence Bore will on Wednesday morning appear before senators over the plight of Kenyan working in Saudi Arabia and other Middle East countries.
Bore is expected to explain to the Senate Standing Committee on Labour and Social Welfare her strategy for improving the welfare of Kenyans making a living in the Arab countries.
She is expected to appear before the committee alongside officials from National Employment Authority.
During vetting, Bore’s plan to improve the welfare of Kenyans working abroad came under heavy criticism from members of the Committee on Appointments.
National Assembly Speaker Moses Moses Wetang’ula dismissed solutions suggested by Bore towards solving the plight of Kenyans in Saudi Arabia.
The Speaker said the matter required more than condemnation and public declarations.
Wetang'ula further added that Kenyans in the diaspora make significant contributions to the country's Gross Domestic Product.
"You need to coordinate a collective team of relevant government agencies and have bilateral discussions," Wetang’ula advised.
As of 2021, Kenyans were sending back Sh330 billion annually in remittances, the third biggest labour migration remittances in Africa.
Suna East MP Junet Mohamed said it would be unreasonable to stop the employment of Kenyans in the Gulf.
Deputy Speaker Gladys Shollei called for a pragmatic approach to ending the problems of Kenyans in the Gulf.
There have been calls for a ban on the recruitment and export of domestic workers to Saudi Arabia until adequate protection measures are put in place.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported that 90 Kenyans died in Saudi Arabia between 2019-2021. The reported distress calls during the same period were 1,908.
