Kenya will banish thousands of Britons and other expatriates so that local people can take their jobs, the government confirmed yesterday.
Work permits for two-thirds of the expatriate labour force are not to be renewed, reported Peter Odoyo, the deputy labour minister.
It is thought that the majority of the estimated 16 000 foreigners, who will be obliged to leave, will have come originally from Britain, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
Odoyo maintained the expulsion policy was not new — it was a decision to enforce existing rules, like those applied by western countries — and there would be no overnight exodus. But critics said the move was irresponsible populism, which would deter foreign investors and do nothing to alleviate Kenya’s crushing unemployment.
The labour minister, Ali Mwakwere, made the first announcement about the policy earlier this week, saying Kenyans could take on the jobs. ”We have enough middle-level manpower and therefore there is no need for expatriates.”
But there was some doubt as to whether he was serious, since on the same day Mwai Kibaki, the country’s president, asked Asian business people, who had recently left Kenya, to return.
Yesterday Odoyo made it clear that the move was a purge. ”The concept of expatriates was to have experts, but many of these people are without any specialised skills.
Many of those to be affected are from the Indian subcontinent, and westerners, especially from Britain, who came here to work for multi-nationals and then retired and took up other jobs which Kenyans are capable of doing.”
The western expatriates have been mostly involved in medium-sized businesses, aid agencies and churches.
Since sweeping to power on a wave of optimism 10 months ago, the government has struggled to keep a promise of creating 500,000 jobs a year.
Much of the east African country’s 25 million-strong population is desperately poor after decades of corruption and mismanagement.
Poor economic growth has meant that even university graduates often fail to find employment. According to Odoyo, such graduates could easily take the place of the expatriates.
Many foreigners who received five-year work permits were supposed to relay their skills to local people and then leave. Instead they stayed on after their permits expired and took other jobs, working, for instance, as building site labourers, shopkeepers and industrial labourers, he said.
About 5 000 westerners and 1 000 Africans would be affected by the policy. ”The rules we are enforcing are not different than those effected by western countries or anywhere else where you have to have a work permit. It’s not an expulsion order.”
The policy appears to have been operating for some time since several schools and businesses have reportedly struggled to renew work permits for expatriate staff.
The announcement was popular with Kenyans who partly blame their frustrated hopes on visibly thriving foreigners. But others worried that there could be a spree of nepotistic appointments by the ruling elite. And economists said the new jobs would be a drop in the ocean of unemployment. – Guardian Unlimited Â