Labour CS Bore says govt aims for 1m jobs overseas in deal with Middle East countries

By Karim Rajan

Labour Cabinet Secretary (CS) Florence Bore has said the government aims to create one million jobs overseas after signing several bilateral agreements with Gulf countries.

Speaking in Mombasa on Thursday, the Cabinet Secretary said 15 labour agreements had so far been signed with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia in a bid to tackle the unemployment crisis in the country.

"We are working as a ministry to focus on labour migration, we as a ministry have signed 15 labour agreements with different countries, we are ready and we will be done within the next six months," Bore said.

She added that more nurses were needed in Saudi Arabia and that the first batch of medics to work in the Gulf under the pilot programmes would soon be vetted.

"I have an order for 10,000 workers from a company in Saudi Arabia and the technical team is working and I am asking the youth to apply for these jobs at the National Employment Authority (NEA), there are also opportunities for nurses," said Bore.

CS Bore further said that the government will work with recruitment agencies to ensure the safety of Kenyan workers when they seek employment outside the country.