A section of leaders from the opposition has strongly accused President William Ruto’s move to source employment opportunities for Kenyans abroad.
The Head of State on Sunday, October 29, revealed that he had secured more job opportunities for Kenyans in Saudi Arabia.
Ruto who was speaking during a Sunday service in Uasin Gishu County said the Gulf country had more than 350,000 opportunities preferably for Kenyans because they are the most hardworking of all migrant workers.
“During my trip to Saudi Arabia last week, they need 350,000 workers and say Kenyans workers are better than the others because they are hardworking,” the president said.
However, in a statement on X social media (formerly Twitter), Narok Senator Ledama Ole Kina wondered why the country had to send its citizens to work in the diaspora.
The vocal ODM lawmaker termed President Ruto’s move as a brain drain and asked the president to reconsider his move and instead focus on sourcing local job opportunities for unemployed Kenyans.
“Why do we have to send our employees to Saudi Arabia? Ever heard of a brain drain? A leader should be creating local jobs instead of celebrating other countries that have built their economies,
“President Ruto, let us focus on building our local economy. We can do it,” Ole Kina said.
On his part, Homa Bay Town Member of Parliament Peter Kaluma said it was wrong for the President to send unemployed graduates to work in the Gulf terming it as “modern-day slavery”.
“When will President William Ruto realize that it is his duty to create opportunities for Kenyans to work within Kenya instead of these platforms for modern-day slavery?” Kaluma questioned.
