Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Alfred Mutua has jetted out of the country on an official visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
According to a statement issued on Wednesday, November 2, this is his first external visit as CS of Foreign and Diaspora.
While responding to a question on the issue of Kenyan workers in Saudi Arabia during vetting, he promised to prioritize it after being sworn into office.
This visit follows his meeting with the Saudi Ambassador H.E. Khalid Abdullah Alsalman on October 28 a day after he was sworn in. They discussed various issues, including the welfare of Kenyans working in Saudi Arabia.
Mutua’s travels come on the back of a meeting held on Monday with representatives of employment agents who recruit Kenyans for jobs in Saudi Arabia and other regions.
During that meeting on October 31, 2022, Mutua said he would then travel to Saudi Arabia to meet with Saudi authorities and the Kenyan Diaspora living and working there, to gather more information to assist him in coming up with lasting solutions to the current welfare challenges.
The issue of Kenyans suffering and in some cases losing their lives in Saudi Arabia has elicited strong emotions in the country and all eyes are on the new CS and how he handles this issue.
The reactions to these meetings from Kenyans earlier this week, especially on social media, welcomed the renewed efforts to come up with a lasting and effective solution so that the stigma associated with working in Saudi Arabia, which is a close trade partner and ally to Kenya is removed.
While in Saudi Arabia, Mutua will explore other issues of interest to Kenya including various forms of direct and indirect investments.
The visit is also focusing on export market opportunities and other forms of bilateral trade.
Mutua is seeking to increase Kenya’s inflows from the diaspora from the current Sh400Billion to over Sh1Trillion shillings per year.
