Raila Faults Ruto Plan To Send Kenyans To Work Abroad
He termed it ironic that the government was talking with pride and gusto about securing jobs in other countries
Marvin Chege 
Azimio la Umoja leader, Raila Odinga on Friday, December 8 claimed President William Ruto was making the wrong decision by negotiating deals with other countries so that Kenyans could go abroad and get jobs.
Odinga, who spoke on Friday, December 8 at the Catholic University while delivering a lecture dubbed ‘A Vision for the Next 60 Years and Beyond’, said the Kenya Kwanza government had shown that it has failed to create jobs for Kenyans in their own country.
He termed it ironic that the government was talking with pride and gusto about securing jobs in other countries, for instance, farm jobs in Israel, when they have a responsibility to create better jobs for them, especially after graduating from university.
President William Ruto with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his office in Jerusalem, Israel on May 9, 2023. /PCS
“Our children are struggling to get farm jobs in Israel, to be house helps in Saudi Arabia and security personnel in Qatar. Government officers, including a whole president, openly say that they are trying to get jobs abroad for Kenyans,” he criticised.
“Young people with the new skills and knowledge we need are being exported because the government cannot create jobs. And the government sees it as an achievement.”
According to the former Prime Minister, the current government had succeeded in making the country unbearable for its citizens and was responding to their demands to seek greener pastures elsewhere on Earth by creating job opportunities abroad.
He recounted the golden age when Kenyans would not even dare think about leaving their home country for opportunities abroad, even with the United Nations (UN), which is not the case right now.
“Once upon a time, Kenyans were so proud and so confident of their nation that they refused to seek jobs abroad, including with the UN,” he narrated.
“Today, our people are scrambling to leave the country. A recent study by Pew Research showed that up to 54 per cent of Kenyans would wish to relocate from the country.”
Raila went on to cite the second liberation for Kenya where he accused the current regime of abetting corruption and ethnicity, the vices he said the forefathers fought against and which have hit nearly all sectors; from the administration's appointments in the public service to the recent examination scandal surrounding the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) class of 2023.
“Today, we are way off the original dream. The nation is reeling under a heavy burden of corruption, officially sanctioned tribalism, heavy burden of taxation and a harsh and heartless leadership. We are not the confident nation we have been over the decades,” he disclosed.
“Corruption is killing our future. Tribalism is stealing our potential. Under the current regime, these two vices are officially sanctioned. The country is divided between people with shares and those with no shares.”
His remarks come two days after President Ruto's government inked a deal with Israel that will see Kenya send 1,500 farm workers to Israel on a three-year contract, despite an ongoing conflict with Hamas which has left about 16,000 people dead since October 7, 2023.
The Kenyan government revealed that the opportunities number about 1,500 with a guaranteed net income of 1,500 USD per month, translating to Ksh230,025.
