Up to 10,000 young people will be sent to work abroad under a government plan aimed at solving unemployment.
The Jobs Abroad Programme hoped to export labour and hit the 10,000 mark by the end of next year, Sports and Youth Affairs minister Hellen Sambili said.
Prof Sambili said 390 young people had so far been employed in Iraq and Afghanistan under the programme established in 2008.
Applications are made through the Youth Fund, recruitment agencies or district youth offices.
She was answering Nyaribare Chache MP Robert Monda (Narc) who sought to know what the State was doing about unemployment among the youth.
In a related matter, Mr Ababu Namwamba (Budalang’i, ODM) wanted to know what measures the government was taking to ensure not only the success of the programme but also the safety of the young people.
“There’s a Cabinet memo to ensure that our people abroad are not exploited,” said Prof Sambili.
MPs were also concerned that most of those who had got the jobs were men, contrary to the official policy of ensuring that at least a third of those hired were female.
The minister said this was so because most of the jobs available were menial—electricians, security guards, carpenters, cooks and mechanics—which can only be comfortably done by men.
War-torn areas
Mr Njoroge Baiya (Githunguri, Safina) and Mr Eugene Wamalwa (Saboti, PNU) queried the rationale of sending Kenyans to war-torn areas.
“The government set up the Kazi kwa Vijana programme and had our youths dig trenches and dams. Now, they are sending our young people to theatres of war,” said Mr Wamalwa.
But Prof Sambili denied any ill intention of sending young people to dangerous places, saying: “We value our young people, they are our resources.”
Reports by Alphonce Shiundu and John Ngirachu
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