President William Ruto has held discussions with the Kenyan Diaspora representatives from 40 countries at State House Nairobi, focusing on strengthening the country’s relationship with the citizens living abroad.

In his remarks, President Ruto praised Kenyans living in diaspora for being excellent ambassadors of Kenya. He also noted that various international organisations continue to provide positive accounts of their hard work, consistency, reliability, and dependability across different sectors worldwide.

He also highlighted that the Kenya Kwanza administration has made some initiatives aimed at improving the diaspora engagement.

“We have made it easier for the Kenyan diaspora to engage with government at home, own Affordable Housing Programme property at home through the Boma Yangu portal, and support their families by paying for medical insurance with the Social Health Authority,” he said.

On employment opportunities, Ruto said the government is actively mobilising Kenyans to seek jobs overseas, and also revealed that in the past three years, 540,000 Kenyans have secured employment abroad following the reforms in the labour migration sector and elimination of fraudsters.

According to data from Central Bank, the primary tracking body that collects monthly data on financial inflows, annual diaspora remittances recently hit a historic record, crossing the $5 billion mark ($5.04 billion) for the first time. 

The meeting at State House reaffirmed the government’s commitment to strengthening ties with the diaspora, increasing investment participation and ensuring Kenyans abroad remain an important part of the national government.