Foreign Affairs and Diaspora Cabinet Secretary Alfred Mutua on Friday, October 28, held fruitful discussions with the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to Kenya H.E Khalid Abdullah Alsalman ahead of his visit to Saudi Arabia next week.
According to Mutua, Saudi Arabia is a key development partner which hosts 104,000 Kenyans.
“We discussed issues of mutual interest including the welfare of Kenyan workers,” he tweeted.
During last week’s vetting process, Mutua told the vetting committee that he plans to immediately fly to the Middle East after he is approved and sworn in as the Foreign Affairs CS.
Mutua added that he intended to end the suffering of Kenyans in the Middle East once cleared to take his position.
According to Mutua, this is part of his plans in ensuring that welfare of Kenyans working in the diaspora is taken care of, saying that it’s unfortunate that Kenyans are dying and mistreated as they seek greener pastures, especially in Arab countries.
“My first trip overseas, if approved, will be to Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states to take care of this problem,” Mutua stated.
Mutua told the committee that he will work with the Labor Ministry to ensure there are proper systems for tracking the process right from recruitment, monitoring where they will be deployed, and following up on their well-being.
“I have looked at the matter and all I see is systematic failure. The Kingdom and government of Saudi Arabia is a friendly country, they have an embassy here and we have an embassy there. They are not involved in this but there is a problem and it must be addressed,” he said.
