Reports of Kenyans living or travelling abroad are raising concerns about the safety of citizens in foreign countries. Detention of Kenyan in Tanzania and Uganda have been of particular concern given that the two countries stats are members of the East Africa Community (EAC).
The parliamentary proceedings are reproduced verbatim:
Notice of question
Question by Private Notice No. 017/2025 by the Member for Samburu West (Hon Naisula Lesuuda, MP) to ask the Prime Cabinet Secretary and Cabinet Secretary for Foreign & Diaspora Affairs:
Could the Prime Cabinet Secretary:
Clarify whether any senior government officials, or their family members directly or indirectly own, control, or benefit from recruitment, training, or insurance companies involved in deploying Kenyan workers to the Gulf?
Kenyans migrating abroad must have a travel insurance cover. No single insurance company has a monopoly covering Kenyans seeking jobs in the Gulf. Individuals and Kenyan private recruitment agencies are at liberty to choose their preferred insurance company.
Provide the full terms of the current bilateral labour agreements with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, including negotiated wages, complaint-handling mechanisms, emergency response obligations, and repatriation terms for Kenyan workers?
Kenya is at an advanced stage of negotiations with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for a new comprehensive agreement that will cover skilled and semi-skilled workers with significantly improved wages and conditions. Just this week we have received official communication on enhanced wage agreements for Kenyans employed in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Explain the current capacity of the Kenyan Embassy in Riyadh and the Consulate in Jeddah to respond to reports of abuse and to protect Kenyan workers in distress, including staffing, funding, safe-house availability, and case-resolution timelines.
The number of Kenyans living and working in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has increased exponentially now estimated at 350,000. To enhance consular services, we recently opened a consulate in Jeddah to augment the Mission in Riyadh. We will also be seeking more budgetary support to expand the capacity of our mission to serve Kenyans better. The government will be seeking funding for the establishment of a safe house for Kenyans in distress.
Explain the criteria, and specific oversight mechanisms applied in vetting agencies before they are granted recruitment licences and further explain the number of recruitment agency licences that have been revoked in the last five years?
A multi-Agency Committee comprised of, Labour, Interior, Foreign Affairs, Attorney General (AG), National Police, National Intelligent Service (NIS), and Director Criminal Investigation (DCI). The committee vets all applications by Recruitment Agencies in line with Section 54A to 60 of the Labour Institutions Act 2007 and the Private Employment Agencies Regulations of 2016. The criteria includes, financial capability of a capital base of 5 million, Office space and facilities, Educational qualifications of the Directors and managers. Degree for the manager and Form 4 certificate for Directors. Others are individuals with no criminal record. There must at least one Kenyan director, foreigners must be in possession of a work permit
There are currently 594 recruitment agencies with valid licenses. The government has deregistered over 600 other agencies on various grounds of malpractices
Provide the number of workers that have been repatriated due to abuse, medical emergencies, or labour violations, and the specific legal, psychosocial, or financial support that was provided?
Number of distress cases handled from Middle East from 2023 to date are, 3,452.
Explain why the minimum wages of Kenyan domestic workers in Gulf countries has not been renegotiated in line with regional benchmarks such as the Philippines and Sri Lanka?
The Bilateral Labour Agreement for Domestic workers was signed in 2018 and operationalised in 2019. In addition, a meeting held in February 2019 between the representatives of the Saudi manpower companies and Kenyan recruitment agencies agreed on a minimum salary of 850 Saudi Riyals. However, from 1 October 2025, Saudi Arabia officially launched Phase 3 of its Wage Protection System (WPS) for domestic workers. Under this phase, all employers who hire two or more domestic workers are now required to transfer salaries through official digital channels via MUSANED. This step reflects the Kingdom’s strong commitment to safeguarding workers’ rights and ensuring timely, transparent, and secure salary payments. By January 2026, the system will become mandatory for all domestic workers in Saudi Arabia, regardless of the number of employees. The WPS for domestic workers is the first system of its kind globally to cover this category of workers, representing a landmark reform that strengthens protection, promotes fair treatment, and enhances trust between employers, workers, and recruitment offices. This initiative will support our shared goals of ensuring the dignity, security, and welfare of domestic workers while further reinforcing our collaboration
Lastly, I would like reaffirm that our citizens are not merely migrating for work; they are being actively recruited worldwide because of their skills, resilience, and work ethic. The Government celebrates this global recognition and will spare no effort in building robust systems, including bilateral agreements, real-time embassy interventions, verified recruitment, and enforceable protections, so that every Kenyan who steps out to earn abroad does so with the full backing and shield of their government.
Invitation to the prime cabinet secretary and cabinet secretary for foreign and diaspora affairs to respond to questions in the plenary of the national assembly on Wednesday, 19th November, 2025, regarding the killing of a Kenyan teacher and election-related violence in the united republic of Tanzania
Introduction
Honourable Chair,
May I take this opportunity to thank the House for its invitation of November 13, 2025 to respond to a public interest question relating to the status of Kenya’s diaspora in Tanzania. This question is of particular interest as it comes against the backdrop of the recently concluded presidential election in the country.
This request arises from Question Number 087/2025 by the Member for Laikipia North, Hon. Sarah Korere, MP, directed to the Prime Cabinet Secretary and Cabinet Secretary for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs.
I also wish to thank the House for the very vibrant Question Time sessions that we have witnessed so far. I also thank H.E the President for his wisdom that struck a meeting of minds between the two arms of Government leading to the re-introduction of Question Time under this Administration.
I will be getting to my response to the question by Hon. Sarah Korere in a short while. Allow me for the moment however, to briefly delve into yet another public interest issue regarding the current framework around public participation in Kenya. This issue is fortunately also live before this House as the Public Participation Bill No. 44 of 2025.
As you will recall, part of my responsibility as the Prime Cabinet Secretary is coordinating the implementation of the national government’s policy and legislative development processes under a programme known as the Government Legislative Agenda.
In the discharge of this responsibility, I have been able to gain great insights on the day-to-day processes of formulating policy and the legislative proposals that eventually make their way to this House either as Sessional Papers, Bills or Statutory Instruments.
One of the key issues that has stood out from my experience is the real need to streamline public participation processes to not only actualize the Constitution’s call for the involvement of the people in policy and law-making processes, but to also ensure that all concerned arms of Government work in synergy to deliver on this imperative.
Honourable Chair
The current framework is fraught with duplicities that have left the Government shouldering the weight of inefficiency and avoidable expenditure.
As it is currently, we have public participation duplicated across the Executive and Parliament. The Executive first undertakes public participation on policy which gives rise to Bills. It again undertakes public participation on those Bills as well as the Statutory Instruments that arise from those Bills once the Bills are enacted into law.
On its part, Parliament, on the strength of Article 118, its Standing Orders and various provisions of the Parliamentary Service Act, also undertakes public participation on the same business. The current framework has also witnessed one House undertaking public participation on items that had been subjected to public participation by the other House.
I’m glad to note that the Public Participation Bill, 2025 deals with the inter-house duplicities by allowing joint public participation exercises or the reliance on one House Committee’s reports by the other House Committee. This is a commendable proposal under Clause 18 of the Bill. I support.
On the same breath, I invite this House to consider advancing these reforms by also addressing inter-arm duplicities. My proposal is that, in appreciation of the interplay of processes between the Executive and Parliament; the Executive should be allowed to undertake public participation on policy while Parliament, in its capacity as the elected assembly of the people, should undertake public participation on Bills and Statutory Instruments.
In addition to addressing duplicity in processes, this approach also aligns with other categories of legislative proposals, such as individual and committee Bills which do not require public participation prior to consideration by the relevant Departmental Committees.
Honourable Chair,
Our assessment shows that public participation is one of the most expenditure-heavy stages in the policy and legislative processes for the Executive. As a result, most initiatives stagnate at this stage sometimes for multiple financial years due to budget constraints. Offices within the Executive continue grappling with the question of proper public participation vis-a-vis the resources needed to meet that threshold.
The striking down of Statutory Instruments by Parliament (as recently witnessed with the Petroleum Regulations) for want of public participation, amongst other grounds, demonstrates just how sensitive the subject of public participation is.
This is exacerbated by the fact that public participation for Statutory Instruments has created a three-tier process for determining whether public participation was proper or not. A lesson to be drawn from the High Court’s recent nullification of Mining Regulations for want of public participation is that the consideration of whether proper public participation was held is undertaken first by the Executive, secondly by Parliament and thirdly by the Judiciary.
This public participation-based annulment results in loss of already committed funds as well as delay in implementing key aspects of Legislation passed by Parliament.
By freeing the Executive from this requirement, a pathway to faster transition of the Executive’s legislative business to Parliament shall be charted, and a lot more resources will also be freed for development.
I so submit to this issue to the House to consider.
Honourable Chair,
I now wish to turn by attention to my response to the questions raised by Hon. Sarah Korere.
“Question number 087/2025 by the member for Laikipia North (Hon. Sarah Korere, MP) to the prime cabinet secretary and cabinet secretary for foreign and diaspora affairs.”
The Specific information required is as follows:
Registration and presence of Kenyan Citizens Residing, Working and Studying or Operating Businesses in the United Republic of Tanzania as at 29th October, 2025
Reported deaths of Kenyan nationals during or after the elections 29th October, 2025: cause and repatriation measures
Kenyan-owned businesses affected by-election-related violence
Outline measures put in place to locate Kenyans reported missing after the elections.
Question 1.
Registration and presence of Kenyan citizens residing, working and studying or operating businesses in the united republic of Tanzania as at 29th October, 2025
Honourable Chair,
On the registration and presence of Kenyan citizens residing, working, studying, or operating businesses in the United Republic of Tanzania as of 29th October, 2025, I wish to state as follows –
As per the records maintained by the Kenya High Commission in Dar es Salaam, the Kenya Consulate in Arusha, and official statistics provided by the Government of Tanzania, I wish to state that –
Data from the Kenya High Commission and the Kenya Consulate
Between 2021 and October, 2025, a total of 766 Kenyan citizens physically registered with the Kenya High Commission in Dar es Salaam and the Kenya Consulate in Arusha.
In addition, the Mission’s online registration portal active between 2021 and June 2023 recorded 276,186 Kenyan entries into Tanzania, covering both short-term and long-term stays.
It is important to note that the portal ceased operations in July, 2023 due to inadequate budgetary support, resulting in a loss of critical real-time migration data.
Statistics from the United Republic of Tanzania July, 2023 – June, 2024
During the reporting period, the Government of Tanzania issued the following to Kenyan nationals:
- 448 Students’ Gratis Passes
- 879 Work Permits
- 370 Registered business entities owned by Kenyans
- 1,806 Residence Permits for workers and self-employed Kenyans
This amounts to a total of 3,503 documented Kenyan citizens residing or conducting socio-economic activities in Tanzania during the period under review.
- Observations
The discrepancy between Kenya’s registration figures and Tanzania’s official statistics underscores the importance of restoring the Mission’s online registration portal, which previously provided comprehensive and timely data.
The high number of work and residence permits issued indicates growing labour mobility and expanding economic engagement by Kenyan citizens within Tanzania.
The data shows a steady increase in cross-border economic integration, consistent with the objectives of the East African Community (EAC).
Recommendations to the National Assembly
I respectfully request for increased budgetary allocation to restore and sustain the Mission’s data acquisition and integration systems.
Question 2:
Reported deaths of Kenyan nationals during or after the elections 29th October 2025 and repatriation measures
Honourable Chair,
On the Reported deaths of Kenyan Nationals during or after the elections 29thoctober 2025 and repatriation measures taken; I wish to state that –
To date, and based on the information received from the Kenya Missions in Arusha and Dar es Salaam; there has been one (1) confirmed death of a Kenyan national linked to the unrest surrounding 29th October 2025.
The deceased, Mr John Ogutu, a Kenyan teacher at Sky Schools in Kinondoni District, was shot dead on 29th October 2025 at approximately 7:00 p.m. in Goba Centre, Ubungo District of Dar es Salaam.
Actions taken by the ministry
The Kenya High Commission, with support from Sky Schools, conducted visits to government hospital mortuaries in Dar es Salaam to trace and identify the remains of Mr Ogutu however, these efforts were unsuccessful.
- The High Commission formally notified Tanzanian authorities through diplomatic channels and requested their assistance in locating the body.
- The Prime Cabinet Secretary and the Cabinet Secretary for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs formally wrote to the Minister for Foreign Affairs and East African Community of Tanzania to seek their urgent intervention.
- The High Commission remains in constant engagement with Tanzanian authorities however the body of the late Mr. Ogutu has not yet been traced.
- The Ministry has informed the next of kin and continues to provide consular support to the family.
- Upon locating the remains, the Ministry will immediately facilitate repatriation to Kenya for interment, in accordance with the family’s wishes and both countries’ laws.
Question 3:
Kenyan-owned businesses affected by election-related violence
Honourable Chair,
On the Kenyan owned businesses affected by election-related violence in the United Republic of Tanzania, I wish to state that –
The preliminary assessments by the Kenya High Commission and field officers indicate that no significant Kenyan-owned businesses reported incidents of damage, looting, or temporary closure during the election period.
The Mission has only noted a minor incident at the Namanga One Stop Border Post, where a tear gas canister thrown by Tanzanian security forces landed on the Kenyan side and struck the KRA Cargo Scanner Area. The incident was reported through established channels, and additional security support was deployed from Kajiado. There was no major impact and no further related incidents.
Question 4.
On the measures taken to locate Kenyans reported missing after the elections
Honourable Chair,
On the measures taken to locate Kenyans reported missing after the elections; I wish to state that –
- There were no reported cases of missing Kenyan nationals following the unrest associated with the General Elections in the United Republic of Tanzania.
- However, the Mission received reports of several Kenyans who had been arrested and detained in various locations across Tanzania. In response, the Kenya High Commission dispatched a team of officers to the respective police stations and immigration offices to verify the arrests, provide consular assistance, and engage local authorities.
- Following intervention by the Government of Kenya through the High Commission, all but two of the detained Kenyans have since been released. The remaining two individuals Mr Samuel Kagila and Mr Stephen Ndungu Kimani who are currently held at Arusha Central Police Station.
The Mission remains actively engaged with Tanzanian authorities, and efforts are ongoing to secure their release.
Conclusion
Hon Chair,
In conclusion, I wish to state unequivocally that the Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs has activated all diplomatic channels and consular mechanisms to safeguard Kenyans abroad. The Government of Kenya views with utmost gravity the recent incidents affecting our nationals and has formally communicated to the concerned governments that the safety and dignity of Kenyan citizens is non-negotiable and constitutes a fundamental obligation under international law.
Where the Ministry’s current records are incomplete, we have instituted immediate verification procedures through our missions, and I undertake to provide this Honourable House with comprehensive documentation, including verified figures, detailed case files, and specific interventions undertaken for each affected national.
I further assure this House that the Ministry, working in concert with relevant security agencies and regional partners, shall pursue every available legal and diplomatic avenue to ensure accountability for any harm inflicted upon our citizens, secure the immediate release of those detained without due process, and guarantee the protection of Kenyans exercising their legitimate rights to residence, movement, and commerce within the East African Community.
The enquiries raised today reflect matters of paramount national interest, and the Government shall not relent until every Kenyan abroad receives the protection they deserve as citizens of this Republic.
I Submit.
Hon Dr Musalia Mudavadi, EGH
Prime cabinet secretary and cabinet secretary for foreign and diaspora affairs
Supplementary information for the prime cabinet secretary and cabinet secretary during parliamentary questions
Number of Registered Kenyans in the East African Community (EAC)
| S/NO. | Country | Estimated Number of Kenyans |
| 1. | Tanzania | 3503 (Officially registered) |
| 2. | Uganda | 287 (Officially registered), 30,000 (Unofficial) |
| 3. | Burundi | 300 (Officially registered), 350 (Unofficial) |
| 4. | Rwanda | |
| 5. | South Sudan | 4,066 (Officially registered), 25,000–30,000 (Unofficial) |
| 6. | Democratic Republic of Congo | Estimated 2,500 (Data unavailable following January 2025 attack on Kenya Mission in Kinshasa) |
| 7. | Somalia | 600 (Officially registered), 10,000 (Unofficial) |
Exports from Kenya to EAC countries (Kenya shillings)
| COUNTRY | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
| Uganda | 72.2 B | 91.6 B | 97.1 B | 126.2 B | 125.9 B |
| Tanzania | 31.8 B | 45.5 B | 57.3 B | 69.2 B | 67.2 B |
| Rwanda | 25.2 B | 30.5 B | 40.1 B | 42.3 B | 41.7 B |
| South Sudan | 23.1 B | 17.1 B | 23.4 B | 31.9 B | 29.7 B |
| Burundi | 5.8 B | 7.5 B | 8.3 B | 9.6 B | 7.5 B |
| DRC | 14 B | 24 B | 18 B | 26.4 B | 31.7 B |
| SOMALIA | 11 B | 13 B | 15 B | 22 B | 17 B |
| TOTAL | 158B | 192B | 226B | 305B | 321B |
Imports from EAC countries to Kenya (Kenya shillings)
| COUNTRY | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
| Uganda | 25.9 B | 34.1 B | 39.9B | 41.1 B | 37.6 B |
| Tanzania | 27.8 B | 54.4 B | 54 B | 43.6 B | 58.7 B |
| Rwanda | 2 B | 3.2 B | 3.5 B | 4.8 B | 3.3 B |
| South Sudan | 42 M | 69 M | 13 M | 17 M | 13 M |
| Burundi | 355 M | 498 M | 129 M | 14.8 M | 9.3 M |
| DRC | 2.7 B | 3.6 B | 3.1 B | 3.1 B | 3.4 B |
| Somalia | 53 M | 98 M | 71 M | 48 M | 566 M |
- A Tell Media report
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