Moses Kuria, the Cabinet Secretary in the Ministry of Investments, Trade & Industry has acknowledged that he was a shareholder in a company that offered Kenyans jobs in other countries, including Saudi Arabia. 

Speaking to Trevor Ombija on the Monday Report on Citizen TV, Kuria stated that whilst the company stopped the business five years ago, there are still many opportunities for Kenyans in the Gulf. 

“This issue is much more complicated than what you think. This is a business I exited 5 years ago because of all these problems. But I am one person who is happy to support a policy that says we stop migrant workers. Because it is crowding a bigger business for drivers, engineers and for all these others things,” CS Kuria said.

When asked whether he faced any conflict between his duties as a parliamentarian then and a shareholder in a migrant agency, CS Kuria stated that he began the business long before he ventured into politics. 

“I was not a prominent person in 2001 when I went to Saudi Arabia to do business, why do people criminalise businesses? What is wrong with owning a business... I have no regrets with that. I am not a coward or hypocrite. I am pro-business. I encourage private sector business.”

The Cabinet Secretary, who visited Saudi late last year for official engagements believes that with more reforms the woes of Kenyans in the Gulf nation could be a thing of the past. 

“I have told my counterpart from the Government of Saudi that they probably they need to allow our companies to be the one dealing directly with the employer in Saudi because a lot of stuff is lost in translation,” he added. 

CS Kuria added that despite the challenges many Kenyans are facing in Saudi Arabia, nevertheless there are many Kenyans still earning a good salary in the oil-rich country. 

“If we were to do a referendum on whether to continue taking Kenyans to the Middle East, the truth of the matter is that Kenyans would say no to a ban. Kenyans would say no. “

Data from the labour ministry says there are around 400 000 Kenyan migrant workers in the Gulf, of which 210 000 are in Saudi Arabia.