President Ruto boasts of shipping 400,000 Kenyans to work abroad

President William Ruto has made an appeal to Kenyan youth to embrace overseas employment opportunities through the government's Kazi Majuu programme, revealing that his administration has so far facilitated the deployment of over 400,000 young Kenyans to work abroad.

Speaking on Tuesday when he hosted over 600 leaders from the African Independent Pentecostal Church of Africa (AIPCA) at State House in Nairobi, Ruto emphasized the success of the programme and challenged religious leaders to encourage their congregants to participate.

"400,000 young people have gone to work outside Kenya," President Ruto stated, highlighting the scale of the government's efforts in securing overseas employment for Kenyan youth.

The President specifically addressed church leaders and parents, saying he wanted the youth from AIPCA to be among those benefiting from international job opportunities.

He outlined the financial benefits of the program, indicating that participants can earn substantial salaries.

"You go to work and get paid a salary of Ksh.100,000…Ksh.200,000…Is that little money?" he posed.

President Ruto challenged Kenyans to adopt a more pragmatic approach to job seeking, advising them that people should not be selective about work locations when employment opportunities are available, including construction work.

The Head of State concluded his remarks with a call for a change in mindset, urging Kenyans to move away from a culture of complaints toward actively participating in available solutions.

"Let us look for opportunities, instead of being people who complain, let us be part of the solution," he stated.

The Kazi Majuu programme, launched as part of the Kenya Kwanza administration's youth employment initiatives, continues to be a cornerstone of the government's strategy to address unemployment among young Kenyans through international labor mobility partnerships.

It was launched on June 30, 2023, with the then Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Dr Alfred Mutua announcing that it would be a platform to empower Kenyan citizens to explore job opportunities across the world, providing them with direct access to international job listings.

"Kenyans can go online and look for job opportunities all over the world. We will be posting a lot of opportunities from different countries. You go in there and you will find a section where you will put in your details to agents who are recruiting people from different parts of the world or even from this country," said Mutua then.

President Ruto says the gov't has sent over 400,000 youths abroad for work under the Kazi Majuu program pic.twitter.com/h44imwskDW— Citizen TV Kenya (@citizentvkenya) June 10, 2025