NAIROBI, Kenya Apr 21-Central Organization of Trade Unions (COTU) Secretary General Francis Atwoli is now pushing for a legal framework on the gulf employment opportunities following increased cases of mistreatment of Kenyans in recent months.
Atwoli insisted that the employment contracts of the migrant workers must be bilateral negotiations between the government and gulf nations.
“We must come up with a law that can protect our young men and women. If we want to provide jobs for our people outside. It must be government to government arrangement. So that we can look into those contracts and see whether they are in conformity with international labour contracts,” stated Atwoli.
The COTU SG opened a can of worms by claiming that the employment agencies for the Gulf nation’s job opportunities are owned by top officials within the Ministry of Labour.
“Funny enough I learned that senior officers from the Ministry of Labour are the people owning these agencies. How do they stop it and they are the people promoting this direct slavery? the are doing all funny type of things and they are protected,” Atwoli noted.
Atwoli said that the government has been blatantly ignorant of the welfare of Kenyans despite reports sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs over the mistreatment and torture of migrant workers from Kenya.
“Our government is not sensitive. I have time and again appealed to the Kenyan government to stop this menace of sending our young girls to the gulf. You can be poor but a proud poor person in your country,” Atwoli stated.
“I hear our Minister for Labour talking proudly that we have managed to take more than 500 jobs, what type of jobs? Are these decent jobs even these people come back in coffins,” Atwoli said.
Atwoli insisted that the incidences of Kenyans losing their lives in search of greener pastures in the gulf countries has been on the rise saying there is need for caution.
“We can’t sit pretty happy when our young men are coming back from the gulf in coffins. What type of jobs are we giving our people? It’s sad that every week we are having cases of our people dying in the gulf and nobody is sensitive about it,” the COTU boss stated.
