Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi has warned Kenyans seeking jobs abroad to verify opportunities through official government channels amid growing cases of fraudulent recruitment, trafficking and exploitation of migrant workers.
Mudavadi said jobseekers, particularly young Kenyans, should confirm offers through the Ministry of Labour, the National Employment Authority and the State Department for Diaspora Affairs before engaging recruiters or travelling overseas.
Speaking at the fourth annual Employment and Labour Relations Symposium and Exhibition (ELRASE IV) at Strathmore University in Nairobi on Wednesday, Mudavadi said unregistered agents continued to expose Kenyans to serious risks.
“We have witnessed disturbing cases of our youth being lured into unsafe jobs, falling victim to rogue recruitment agents, human trafficking networks, and even being deceived into becoming combatants in foreign conflicts,” he said.
Mudavadi, who is also Foreign and Diaspora Affairs Cabinet Secretary, said the government had shut down more than 600 recruitment agencies linked to suspected malpractice.
Government records presented to Parliament previously showed that more than 600 agencies had been deregistered on various grounds, while authorities have also been dealing with cases involving Kenyans recruited into the Russia-Ukraine conflict and trafficking networks in Southeast Asia.
The government has increasingly positioned labour mobility as part of Kenya’s foreign policy and economic diplomacy, pursuing agreements aimed at creating regulated pathways for Kenyans to work overseas.
Mudavadi said Kenya had entered labour and migration arrangements with countries including the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Germany, Austria and, most recently, Italy. Kenya and Italy signed a government-to-government migration framework in July, while further labour mobility arrangements with Germany were announced this week.
Through the Kazi Majuu programme and bilateral agreements, he said the government was seeking to create safer and more structured employment opportunities abroad.
“Recent records indicate that over 540,000 Kenyans have secured employment abroad,” Mudavadi said, adding that diaspora remittances exceeded $5 billion in 2025.
He called on the Judiciary and other justice-sector institutions to strengthen mechanisms for handling disputes involving recruitment agencies, overseas employers and Kenyan workers whose rights are violated outside the country.
“Justice for Kenyan workers must remain accessible even when injustice occurs outside the country,” he said.
Mudavadi also called for stronger dispute-resolution mechanisms in bilateral labour agreements, greater use of alternative dispute resolution and technology to help migrant workers access legal support.
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