{"id":125037,"date":"2025-11-20T11:05:51","date_gmt":"2025-11-20T11:05:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/index.php\/2025\/11\/20\/maraga-warns-rutos-labour-migration-depleting-country-of-talent-vows-to-do-better\/"},"modified":"2025-11-20T11:05:51","modified_gmt":"2025-11-20T11:05:51","slug":"maraga-warns-rutos-labour-migration-depleting-country-of-talent-vows-to-do-better","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/maraga-warns-rutos-labour-migration-depleting-country-of-talent-vows-to-do-better\/","title":{"rendered":"Maraga warns Ruto\u2019s labour migration depleting country of talent, vows to do better"},"content":{"rendered":"

NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 20 \u2014 Former Chief Justice and presidential hopeful David Maraga has warned that Kenya risks repeating Africa\u2019s historical trauma of enslavement by exporting its youth abroad in search of work.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Maraga said Africa continues to carry \u201cunspoken wounds\u201d from the loss of its people centuries ago, cautioning that modern labour migration could deplete Kenya\u2019s best talent under the guise of overseas employment opportunities.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur beloved Africa still lives with the unspoken wounds of losing her children to enslavement centuries ago,\u201d he said in a statement on Thursday.<\/p>\n

\u201cShipped across the oceans, the depletion of Africa\u2019s best talent is a tale that seems to be repeating itself in 21st-century Kenya, only this time, through the seemingly innocuous guise of helping young people earn a living abroad.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maraga criticised what he termed the \u201cdark greed\u201d of exporting Kenyan labour instead of creating sustainable jobs locally.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe cannot, ever, in this free Africa, fall prey to that dark greed of shipping off our best across the oceans to build foreign lands on the cheap, through suffering and indignity,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The former CJ added that if elected, his administration would end policies that treat citizens as exportable labour and instead invest in domestic opportunities.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy government will jealously protect our people as our most treasured resource,\u201d Maraga said. \u201cIt is against the very nature of elected governance to trade off our people as labour to foreign lands instead of expanding opportunities at home and ending the corruption that is bleeding our economy.\u201d<\/p>\n

State of the economy: Hits and misses ahead of annual address<\/a><\/p>\n

Maraga\u2019s comments come amid a growing debate over Kenya\u2019s bilateral labour agreements with the Middle East and Europe. The government argues these agreements create employment, but critics warn they expose workers to abuse, trafficking, and long-term brain drain.<\/p>\n

Days earlier, President William Ruto defended Kenya\u2019s labour migration policy, highlighting its contribution to economic growth. Speaking at the opening of the 14th International Association of Refugee and Migration Judges (IARMJ) World Conference in Nairobi on November 17, Ruto said the government has expanded bilateral agreements to provide more jobs for Kenyans.<\/p>\n

He singled out recent deals with Germany and Austria, as well as ongoing talks with Qatar, as examples of \u201cpositive, orderly migration.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the last two years, about 430,000 Kenyans have secured jobs outside the country,\u201d Ruto said.<\/p>\n

He added that the rise in labour migration has boosted Kenya\u2019s diaspora remittances by an additional one billion dollars, supporting domestic development.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have migration in a positive sense. As a result of more Kenyans working abroad, we received a billion dollars more in diaspora remittances, and we are using it to build our country,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Ruto acknowledged the risks of migration but insisted that it offers strong benefits when managed properly, highlighting the importance of skills transfer and technology exchange as Kenya undertakes major development projects.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 20 \u2014 Former Chief Justice and presidential hopeful David Maraga has warned that Kenya risks repeating Africa\u2019s historical trauma of enslavement by exporting its youth abroad in search of work. Maraga said Africa continues to carry \u201cunspoken wounds\u201d from the loss of its people centuries ago, cautioning that modern labour migration could […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-125037","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125037","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=125037"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125037\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=125037"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=125037"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=125037"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}