President William Ruto has responded to Raila Odinga, who recently claimed that the Kenya Kwanza government should prioritize domestic job creation over international chances.
President Ruto addressed the subject during a Sunday Church Service in Kimende, Kiambu County, reiterating his commitment to provide economic possibilities for Kenyan youth beyond the country's limits.
“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.
Did you read this?
The President announced an agreement with the State of Israel to send Kenyan workers to the country in the coming months.
He advised Odinga to stop filing early complaints, claiming that many more would still seek employment 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 criticized Ruto's leadership on December 8 for lacking administrative procedures to provide domestic jobs for Kenyans.
He contended that the government's prioritization of jobs abroad while ignoring the creation of greater chances within the country was paradoxical.
“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 announcement on December 6 by the Ministry of Labor's Principal Secretary Shadrack Mwadime that Kenya would export roughly 1,500 Kenyans as casual workers to work in Israel's agricultural fields on a three-year contract.
