Abdishakur Hussein to lead Middle Eastern Affairs at Kenya's Foreign ministry

Kenya's former deputy ambassador to Canada, Abdishakur Hussein, has been reassigned to the Nairobi foreign office, where he will be the director of the Middle Eastern Affairs Directorate.

Abdishakur, a career diplomat, has previously served in Italy and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

On December 12, 2023, President William Ruto honoured him with the Order of the Grand Warrior (OGW) award, recognising his service to the nation.

In his first task, Abdishakur, who will be temporarily deputised by Kevin Thuo, is expected to prioritise the well-being of Kenyans in the Gulf as a crucial aspect of securing the country’s national interests.

Ensuring the safety of Kenyans abroad is essential to receiving valuable remittances. An estimated 30,000 Kenyans migrate to the Middle East to find work each year, according to the Labour ministry.

Kenya-Saudi labour relations

Abdishakur's appointment follows measures by the government to protect workers abroad following complaints about poor working conditions in the Gulf countries, especially Saudi Arabia. The other Gulf nations are Qatar, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Oman, Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, and Yemen

In April 2020, rights advocacy group Amnesty International reported that Kenyan domestic workers in the Middle East often complain of lack of payment, forced labour, physical abuse, rape and death.

Last August, Labour Cabinet Secretary Florence Bore reported that 283 Kenyan migrant workers had died in the Middle East over the previous three years, specifically in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE.

During the weekly Question Time sessions in Parliament, she said that out of these, 185 died in Saudi Arabia, 45 in the UAE, and 53 in Qatar.

Minister Bore’s disclosure followed Konoin MP Brighton Yegon’s inquiry into the documented Kenyan workforce in Saudi Arabia over that period.  Yegon sought details on residency statuses, employment types, work locations, and reported incidents of deaths, torture, and inhumane treatment.

In her response, Bore said there were approximately 200,000 documented migrant workers in Saudi Arabia, at least 151,000 of them being domestic workers.

Bore's remars were on the backdrop of allegations of torture and mistreatment of Kenyans and other Africans in the Gulf nations. To curb the incidents, she told the lawmakers that the government, in partnership with Saudi Arabia, had taken measures such as effecting the 2017 Bilateral Labor Agreement in 2017 and setting up a dedicated labour attaché office in Riyadh, alongside offices in Qatar and the UAE.

“A national policy on labour migration has been developed, emphasising safe and productive migration. Additionally, a Labor Migration Management Bill is in the works to hold recruitment agencies accountable,” she said. “We are also in the process of developing a comprehensive curriculum to prepare migrants with essential skills and knowledge before they embark on their journeys.”

Enhanced cooperation

Abdishakur's appointment is important also because Kenya has recently enhanced its relations with Saudi Arabia, with President William Ruto visiting Riyadh at least thrice since he came to power in 2022.

Riyadh has launched an ambitious economic foray into Africa as part of its drive to become a global power that is less reliant on energy.

The monarchy hosted a Saudi-Africa summit in Riyadh last November, where it gave more than $500m for projects and investments in Africa through the $700bn Saudi Public Investment Fund.

Saudi Arabia, according to a 2023/24 Knight Frank report, has equally made significant investments in energy and mining projects in Africa. Companies from that country bought more than 2.2 million tonnes of carbon credits in Kenya in June last year.

The demand for carbon offsets, generated though projects such as tree planting or using cleaner cooking fuel, is expected to grow as companies seek to use the credits to help meet net-zero emissions goals.

Additionally, President Ruto recently appointed Mohamed Ramadhan Ruwange as the Kenyan ambassador to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and Mohamed Nur Adan as the envoy to Qatar.

In January, Bore held talks with Ruwange and Nur, centred on how best to pursue more job opportunities in the Gulf, positioning Kenya as a source of skilled labour, identifying skills shortages and bettering the labour migration and welfare of Kenyan workers in these countries.

To protect the rights of Kenyan workers abroad, Bore recently said the country has prepared bilateral labour treaties with about 19 countries.

She said this move was informed by the realisation that many domestic workers abroad are exploited due to a lack of training and awareness, which she noted should be provided by the agencies that facilitate their recruitment.

House helps have, for years, formed the largest group of labour exports from Kenya to Saudi Arabia, with data from the Labour ministry indicating that by 2022, nearly 80,000 Kenyan domestic workers had secured jobs in the Middle Eastern country.

In 2022, Kenyan authorities trained domestic workers who take jobs in the Middle East on their rights, following years of reported abuses.