In a bid to transform Kenya’s labour export landscape, President William Ruto has unveiled significant reforms aimed at protecting Kenyan workers seeking employment abroad and reshaping the way the country approaches overseas job opportunities. These announcements, anchored around a new structured system and the ongoing Nyota programme, signal a strategic shift towards safer, regulated, and dignified labour mobility for Kenyan citizens.
At the launch of the Nyota Programme and other national platforms, President Ruto announced a government-led mechanism that will guide Kenyans seeking jobs outside the country. Under this new framework:
- The State will oversee and regulate the process of labour export instead of leaving it largely in the hands of private agents and middlemen who have often exploited job seekers.
- Kenya will prioritize bilateral agreements with countries that uphold fair labour practices, ensuring Kenyan workers benefit from clear contracts, rights protection, and oversight.
- The reforms target the eradication of rogue recruitment agencies, many of which have been linked to fraud and abusive practices, by tightening licensing standards and monitoring systems.
The government has also committed to active tracking of Kenyan workers abroad, establishing communication channels for welfare check-ins, and intervening when rights violations are reported a departure from past arrangements where workers faced exploitation with limited support from authorities once they left the country.
Recognizing that travel costs and access to legitimate processes have been major barriers for potential migrants, the government has pledged to facilitate transport for Kenyans who secure overseas jobs but lack airfare. This support is intended to protect job seekers from loan sharks and unscrupulous agents who often exploit their desperation. The travel assistance is to be recovered once formal employment begins, ensuring sustainability of the support system.
While labor export reforms focus on international job pathways, the NYOTA Programme remains central to President Ruto’s domestic youth empowerment agenda. Launched as a five-year transformative initiative backed by international partners. The National Youth Opportunities and Transformation Agenda (Nyota) aims to create opportunities for young Kenyans across the country.
Key features of the Programme include: Grants of KSh 50,000 to selected youth to start or grow businesses after training and verification processes; Skills training, mentorship and financial literacy support across business start-ups, recognition of prior learning, and entrepreneurship pathways; Integration with other government schemes to enhance youth employability and economic participation by reducing dependence on informal lenders and fostering a culture of savings and investment.
President Ruto has consistently highlighted that these efforts both in labour export reforms and youth programmes are about protecting Kenyans and creating sustainable opportunities, rather than simply sending workers abroad without adequate safeguards.
Kenya has seen hundreds of thousands of young people seek work overseas, especially in the Gulf and other labour-importing markets. While these opportunities have helped families through remittances and skill acquisition, they have also exposed workers to fraud, exploitation and abusive recruitment practices due to weak oversight and rogue agencies.
By centralizing the labour export system under a regulated, government-supervised framework and linking it to bilateral agreements, President Ruto’s reforms aim to ensure that; Kenyans work with dignity abroad, Recruitment processes are transparent and safe, Economic benefits are maximized for both the worker and the nation
These reforms, if effectively implemented, could significantly reduce the vulnerabilities faced by migrant workers and shift Kenya from ad hoc overseas job placements to a structured and accountable labour migration model with robust protections.