Earlier this year, President William Ruto put Cabinet Secretaries from his first Cabinet on notice after only 500 individuals applied for 2,500 job vacancies he had negotiated in Saudi Arabia.
During the second National Executive Retreat of the Kenya Kwanza administration in February, the Head of State blamed the Cabinet for failing to streamline systems for the youth to access vacancies his administration had negotiated abroad.
Yesterday, Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro resurrected the subject challenging the youth to take advantage of the vacancies in far-flung areas.
Specifically, Nyoro highlighted an instance where the administration negotiated 2,500 nursing vacancies in Saudi Arabia, which only attracted 500 applications.
"I urge the youth to seize the job opportunities that President Ruto is working for. Recently, there were 2,000 positions available for nurses to work abroad with a salary of Ksh200,000, but only 500 Kenyans applied," the lawmaker stated.
In response to a video Kenyans.co.ke shared on X, former Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists, and Dentists Union (KMPDU) Secretary General Ouma Oluga highlighted five possible reasons why Kenyan medics stayed away from the jobs.
First, Oluga revealed that some of the applicants want to work at home. "Many African professionals cringe at the idea that their countries want to export them. It is sickening," he stated.
He further blamed the process of application for the jobs which he argued was complicated due to passports, visas, and document verification while pointing a finger at the corruption bedeviling the country where toll attendants may demand a bribe of as high as Ksh200,000 tp facilitate the applicants.
Oluga also pointed out that in some instances, target workers may not have received the information or may fail to believe the communication when they receive it.
"Those who need the jobs don’t qualify for them. Often the USA, Gulf, and European countries want nurses who have worked in busy hospitals for a minimum of two years. That for sure can’t be a jobless nurse," he concluded.
"We need to be in-depth with our plans and policies. Don’t just throw them to the populations," he advised.
As of April this year, the state had only received 1,765 applications for the jobs, most of whom were male.
The then Labour CS Florence Bore explained that the low applications were attributed to the low perception among Kenyans over the salary scale that was being offered.
