As the Government ups exportation of skilled workers abroad in a bid to beat the unemployment crisis in the country, a scholar has raised concerns saying that exportation of professionals is detrimental to the country’s economic growth.
The Kenya Kwanza administration has been actively promoting exportation of skilled labor to create job opportunities, especially for youths, and to increase Diaspora remittances.
The government has been focusing on bilateral labor agreements with other countries to secure jobs for Kenyans in various fields, including semi-skilled and professional sectors. This strategy aims to address unemployment within Kenya while capitalizing on the demand for skilled workers in other nations.
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Prof Njenga Munene, a Professor of Clinical Veterinary Medicine asserts that the country is losing crucial brains, who are key to the country’s growth, to foreign job markets. He cautioned the government against depriving the country of key professionals who are pivotal for the country’s growth.
He noted that the country is experiencing a heightened skilled-labor migration as Kenyans seek greener pastures in foreign countries.
Prof Munene who doubles as the Zetech University Vice Chancellor noted with concern the rate at which professionals and especially medical doctors are leaving the country in hoards, saying that this is putting health care service delivery in jeorpardy.
speaking at the sidelines of the Zetech University 7th Research and Innovation Week at the institution’s Mang’u campus in Witeithie, Juja constituency, Prof Munene quipped that the country requires about 52,000 doctors but only have a third of them since most have relocated to foreign countries where they get better pay and working conditions.
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“This is a serious concern that we only have a third of the doctors the Kenyan population require since most of them are working abroad. We cannot continue losing professionals who are so key to our national well-being. Health is not something we can take for granted,” he said.
He noted that most Kenyans and Africans at large who are working abroad run institutions in the foreign nations adding that they are brains that are imperative for a nation’s growth.
“It is not possible to grow when you are exporting brains. They are the key drivers of our country’s economic transformation and growth,” Prof Munene said.
By Kamau Njoroge
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