The government says it is in the process of reviewing Kenya’s foreign policy in a bid to attract more investments from Kenyans in the diaspora.
Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Dr. Monica Juma says the move is also aimed at making Kenyans living and working abroad take up national roles at home.
Ambassador Juma says the move is in realization of the diaspora’s contribution to funding local investments and direct financial aid to families, which helps improve livelihoods.
“Professionals and skilled individuals living in the diaspora are a critical human capital asset to Kenya and we are actively engaging them with a view to enabling them to take part in national development activities,” said Juma.
Juma was speaking when she presided over the unveiling of a book titled Foreign Policy and Diplomacy by Boaz Mbaya.
Mbaya is a former permanent secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and also served as Kenya’s ambassador to France and Ethiopia. He was also a permanent representative to the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa.
Kenyans in the diaspora have in recent years invested billions of shillings in real estate and farming as well as running of hotels in major towns.
Kenyans abroad sent home Sh280 billion in 2018, a 39 percent growth compared to the previous year, according to World Bank data.
The increased diaspora remittances are largely attributed to a growth in investment products by commercial banks targeting the Kenya diaspora community as well as cheaper means of sending money home.
Since 2015, diaspora inflows have been the country’s top foreign exchange income earner ahead of income from tea and horticulture exports as well as tourism.
Last year, Kenya earned Sh157.36 billion from tourism, Sh153.68 billion from horticulture exports and Sh140.86 billion from tea sales.
Gova should start by fixing…
Gova should start by fixing services at Embassies…those workers need retraining in PR.
Kenyans in Diasporq, hebu we…
Kenyans in Diasporq, hebu we congratulate ourselves for keeping Kenya afloat. Amen.
we appreciate if you could…
we appreciate if you could allow us to VOTE first.
Huduma namba. Census…
Huduma namba. Census. Stiffling business anyhowly. Looking for money, taxes …revenue, to pay SGR loan. Now they seem to eye for diaspora billions. Why now? Why all these hullabaroo about huduma namba and census? Whats the relationship between counting people and asking whether a home has tv, radio, a vehicle, and other properties. Kenya be wary. They are trying in disguise to widen the tax net(sic bracket)to capture as many citizens as possible. If out of 45 million Kenyans, only about 3 million filed taxes this year, wapi hawa 20 million or 25 million, assuming that the rest are either retirees, jobless people, idlers, hustlers, pickpockets, conmen, thieves, looters etc. Be advised: dont dish out your personal info to them. They should be gnawing their teeth wondering how: how can we get these dispora billions. Well, get it from me: zangu hamzipati ng’o!!!
Thank you Dr. Monica Juma…
Thank you Dr. Monica Juma for aiming at making Kenyans living and working abroad to take up national roles at home. The talk should not end here, push it through the legal system. Currently no Kenyan with dual citizenship can work for the government, for example the recently appointed ambassador with dual citizenship caused a stir.
Next general election is going to restrict many with dual citizenship from participating as candidates.
How many Kenyan politicians have Dual Citizenship, anybody?
@mwangi it’s very easy u…
@mwangi it’s very easy u just have to drop yr citizenships n pap u have that gavament job so hapo hakuna shida.U cannot have the cake n eat it.I dropped mine coz i want to join kenyan politics come 2022 so usiwe na shida kudrop aslong as u have thot about yr plans to remain in this beautiful kenya of ours.
@ Mkenya Halisi NO except…
@ Mkenya Halisi NO except for being president i think duo citizenship has nothing to do with government work or politics otherwise we should not be campaigning for a diaspora MP . Boris Johnson had a us uk duo citizenship and only dropped it after becoming the prime minister . Loyalty will always be on mother land . I support i.e i support my second country in competitions i.e athletics soccer etc but if Kenyans are in the race my natural instinct drives me to support my Kenyan competitor i don’t have to think about it
Deportee, there u go again…
Deportee, there u go again. Accept that ulifukzwa. They did you a favor. Limuru is a beautiful place. That said that govt operates like a stick up kid. All they want to move is the money-diaspora money. If they get us to sign up for huduma namba I see a day when they will threaten us with double the fines for not going to Washington D.C. to be counted like sheep.
So they want the money we…
So they want the money we send yet we cannot vote…ee need to start a petition to allow us to vote..AMA WAKENYA??
All we need is to scrape…
All we need is to scrape double taxation . then we will be motivated to send more to build our country even as you keep on robbing Kenyans . Reason we want to have a say