NAIROBI, Kenya — Chief Justice emeritus David Maraga has warned against what he described as the modern-day depletion of Kenya’s workforce through unregulated labour export, likening the trend to Africa’s historical loss of its people to slavery.
Speaking on the risks of sending Kenyan workers abroad under the guise of creating job opportunities, Maraga said, “Our beloved Africa still lives with the unspoken wounds of losing her children to enslavement centuries ago. Shipped across the oceans, the depletion of Africa’s 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.”
Maraga cautioned that reliance on foreign labour markets exposes Kenyan workers to exploitation while weakening the nation’s social and economic fabric.
He insisted that no modern African state should allow its citizens to be sent overseas to build foreign economies on cheap labour.
“We 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,” he said.
He pledged that, if elected president in 2027, his administration would prioritise the welfare and protection of Kenyan workers, saying, “My government will jealously protect our people as our most treasured resource.” Maraga emphasized that the responsibility of elected leaders is to create opportunities within the country rather than outsourcing livelihoods abroad.
Our beloved Africa still lives with the unspoken wounds of losing her children to enslavement centuries ago. Shipped across the oceans, the depletion of Africa’s best talent is a tale that seems to be repeating itself in 21st Century Kenya, only this time, through the seemingly
Linking the labour export trend to systemic governance challenges, he noted that corruption and mismanagement continue to stifle local economic prospects.
“It 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,” he said.
His remarks come amid ongoing debate over the safety and rights of Kenyan migrant workers, particularly in the Middle East, where numerous cases of abuse and unsafe working conditions have been reported.
Recent allegations also suggest that senior government officials or their relatives may have interests in companies recruiting Kenyans to the Gulf, a claim Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi denied on Wednesday while responding to questions from Samburu West MP Naisula Lesuuda.
