No new ban on Kenyan workers seeking job opportunities in Kuwait

 

 Principal Secretary for Labour and Skills Development Shadrack Mwadime. [File, Standard]

The Ministry of Labour has dismissed claims that Kuwait has barred Kenyans looking for job opportunities in the Gulf nation, citing that it was a miscommunication.

This follows a widespread report that Kenya had been added to a list of countries from which domestic workers cannot be recruited into Kuwait.

In a statement, Principal Secretary for Labour and Skills Development Shadrack Mwadime said Kenya voluntarily suspended the deployment of domestic workers to Kuwait about a decade ago, and that position remains unchanged.

“The recent communication by the Kuwaiti authorities does not constitute a new restriction on Kenya. Rather, it reflects the existing operational and regulatory framework governing domestic worker recruitment in Kuwait,” the statement said.

The Ministry added that the development should not be viewed as a fresh policy action targeting Kenya or Kenyan workers but as a continuation of the long-standing status quo in the domestic labour sector.

Similarly, Mwadime revealed that Kenya and Kuwait are currently engaged in consultations aimed at developing a bilateral framework to govern the domestic labour sector.

The ministry highlighted that the restrictions apply only to the domestic worker category and do not affect other Kenyan professionals seeking employment opportunities in the country.

“All other categories of Kenyan workers remain eligible to pursue employment opportunities in Kuwait in accordance with the laws and regulations of both countries,” the PS stated

Officials said the ongoing engagements between Nairobi and Kuwait City are aimed at strengthening safe, orderly and mutually beneficial labour mobility arrangements while safeguarding the welfare of Kenyan workers abroad.