Labour and Public Service Cabinet Secretary Alfred Mutua says Kenyans applying for jobs overseas must get a letter from the Ministry before they leave to ensure proper accountability by all agencies as part of the reforms that he is undertaking in his docket.
Mutua while appearing for questioning in Senate asserted that this policy which is being undertaken by the National Employment Agency will ensure that all Kenyans leaving the country to work abroad are accounted for.
“We are now requiring that any Kenyans hired through any agency have to get a letter from the ministry which clears them. This information will help us to know who is leaving the country and where they are going,” he said.
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According to Mutua, this system will be interlinked with that of Kenyan missions abroad in a move anchored on ensuring that the government keeps tabs on all its citizens who are working abroad.
Mutua was responding to queries over the regulatory framework for the increasing labour migration from the country under the hospice of travel agencies.
This has further been exacerbate by numerous labour agreements signed by the government and other nations allowing Kenyans to work abroad.
Last week, president William Ruto signed a bilateral labour agreement with Germany to allow skilled and semi-skilled Kenyan workers into Germany in a controlled and targeted labour migration deal.
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The German government has said the deal does not specify the number of workers who will be allowed in, a move that could see Kenyans take up jobs in the European country.
The gulf region has also been a lucrative place for Kenyan migrant workers. However several Keenyan workers in gulf have died under unclear circumstances, which calls for further scrutiny on working conditions in the gulf.
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