President Ruto fires back at Raila on exportation of Kenyan labour

President Ruto addressed the issue during a Church Service in Kimende, Kiambu County, on Sunday, reaffirming his commitment to ensuring job opportunities for Kenyan youth beyond the country's borders.

“I saw the opposition leader (Raila Odinga) complaining saying that many people are being taken abroad for jobs. What did he want them to do if they remained in Kenya? More is yet to come; he has started complaining very early. People will leave Kenya for employment abroad in the thousands,” President Ruto said.

The Head of State went on to reveal an agreement with the State of Israel to send Kenyan workers to the nation in the coming months.

He urged Odinga to refrain from early complaints, asserting that many more individuals would still seek employment opportunities abroad.

“I want to ask, when one goes to Israel and gets a salary of Ksh.100, 000, is there a problem there? There are people who do not understand how things are going on. I want to tell the leader of opposition (Raila Odinga) to stop complaining this early on; many people will still go abroad for jobs,” he added.

Odinga, in his critique on December 8, faulted Ruto's regime for lacking administrative policies to secure jobs for Kenyans domestically. 

He argued that it was contradictory for the government to prioritise jobs abroad while neglecting the creation of better opportunities within the country.

“Young people with the new skills and knowledge that we need are being exported because the government cannot create jobs. And the government sees it as an achievement,” Odinga said.

This follows the Ministry of Labor's announcement through Principal Secretary Shadrack Mwadime on December 6, that Kenya would export approximately 1,500 Kenyans as casual workers to labor in Israel's agricultural fields on a three-year contract.