Kenya, Germany to sign labour agreement

Principal Secretary State Department for Labour and Skills Development Shadrack Mwadime before the National Assembly's Labour Committee on July 17, 2024. [Elvis Ogina, Standard] Kenya and Germany will sign a bilateral labour agreement on September 13. Labour and Skills Development Principal Secretary Shadrack Mwadime said the agreement will enable thousands of Kenyans to secure jobs in Germany. The partnership will create a system for skilled workers to move between the countries. "The agreement will be signed on September 13 in Berlin, Germany. The agreements are under review following the initial discussions in Berlin," said Mwadime. He said both countries had taken time for internal consultations to address specific provisions and ensure mutual benefits. The PS revealed that the government has also deployed a Labour Attache to Saudi Arabia, and more will be sent to other Gulf nations to help safeguard the welfare of Kenyan migrant workers. Speaking in Taita Taveta Mwadime explained that the decision to deploy labor attaches was arrived at following increased cases of unresolved deaths of Kenyan domestic workers in the Gulf countries. The PS said under the new partnership Kenyans will access well-paying skilled jobs in the ICT, hospitality industry and medical sector among others. "Unemployment will be reduced, and labour migration will be done in a structured way following the agreement with Germany," Mwadime said. He revealed that the government conducted a situational analysis to identify the skill gap through the National Industrial and Training Authority (NITA) certification and the National Employment Authority (NEA) in every sector, including demand and supply in the competitive labour market locally and abroad. "We have done the analysis which has given us the demand in the labour market. We want to ensure that supply and demand can match in addressing the skill gap," he said. At the same time, the PS said more than 400,000 jobs were up for grabs in the US, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and the UK, and that the government was certifying skills like beautifying and plumbing among the youth so that they could get jobs abroad. "We are building capacity and up-scaling practical stills for the youths through TVET for labour export to transform their lives," he said. Mwatate MP Peter Shake, who accompanied the PS, disclosed that NG-CDF set aside more than Sh5 million to construct a digital hub with computers and Wifi as part of efforts to address youth unemployment in the region. He said the project will start next year. Mwadime blamed fake recruitment agencies for the suffering of Kenyans in the hands of rogue employers abroad, saying they failed to do due diligence before sending the workers. He said the government revoked registration of rogue recruitment agencies and urged Kenyans to search for jobs abroad through authorized agencies listed on the NEA Information Management System website. "We will never again allow Kenyans to suffer under the hands of rogue unregistered recruitment agencies and ruthless employers abroad, and that is why we are not only deploying labour attache but also providing genuine recruitment agencies," said the PS. "There will be no human rights abuse to be meted against Kenyans working abroad and no confiscation of identity cards by employers abroad as labour migration will be done in a structured way," he added.

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