Kenya earmarks Kshs 100m for evacuating Kenyans in Lebanon

The Kenyan government has set aside Kshs 100 million for security and other agencies to assist in evacuating Kenyans in the Middle East because of the volatile situation in the region.

Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi told the Senate that the government was concerned that no Kenyan of the total 26,000 should be caught stranded in the ongoing insecurity situation between Israel and Lebanon.

“Through the Kenyan embassy in Kuwait, already an estimated 1,500 Kenyans have registered in need of government support including evacuation which indeed is a massive undertaking that the government is keen to act on.

“After the government reached out to the Kenyans in Lebanon, I informed the Senators that a number of them had said they were comfortable there and would reach out to the government when the situation was unbearable,” said Mudavadi.

He says the government was concerned about the well-being of Kenyans worldwide and would go to great lengths to ensure that they were doing well and where need be the response is quick depending on the circumstances at hand..

Mudavadi says the strategy being developed to help Kenyans who are held in countries and regions facing humanitarian crisis is at an advanced stage.

However, he said financial constraints is what hinders the smooth operations whenever need arises, citing that the government through the ministry of foreign and diaspora affairs is working hard to ensure that no lives are lost and no willing Kenyan is left stranded and unattended to.

“We are working every day to ensure that we handle individual cases in the best humanitarian way we can, but also we are faced with a dilemma of Kenyans who tell us that they believe the situation will calm and they are hopeful that they can continue with their stay at the respective countries, including some in Lebanon,” said Mudavadi.

Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi

He told the senate that his ministry with the help of the national government is remains committed in supporting Kenya’s embassies and missions across the world and no region is being overlooked.

“Our Kenyan embassies and missions worldwide remain steadfast in their commitment to promoting, projecting, and protecting Kenya’s image and national interests; promoting cordial relations between Kenya and the country or institution of accreditation,” the Prime Cabinet Secretary said.

Mudavadi also responded to the question the staffing levels, categorized by cadre, at the Kenya Embassy in Washington, D.C., as well as the two Kenyan Consulates General in Los Angeles and New York.

He elaborated on the vital roles played by staff in each cadre informing the senate that the efficiency in operations at the embassy and consulates calls for more additional staffing once funds are availed and proper deployment plan crafted.

“Under the rapid results initiative being spearheaded by the department for diaspora affairs under my ministry, we are analysing the workload distribution and the service delivery to Kenyans in the United States as we work on a progressive approach to staffing aspects.

“To strengthen the Missions operations and implement optimum staffing levels, additional finances have been sourced from the Government exchequer towards enhancing Mission capabilities,” he said.

Mudavadi confirmed that the newly posted ambassador to Washington DC reported two weeks ago and smooth operations at the embassy are ongoing as reported also in the consulates.

Senators led by a question from Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna had sought to be furnished with details of how the government through the ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs is handling operations at the Kenyan embassy in Washington DC and the two consulates in New York and Los Angeles.

On the issue of delayed issuance of Identity Cards to Kenyans residing in the United States of America, The Prime CS responded by informing the Senate that communication on ID and passport collection has been enhanced by the missions.

He said sensitisation on the importance to apply and collect the documents is being undertaken through the existing diaspora associations and their leadership as well as through direct calls, emails and social media platform alerts and messaging.

“Through a rapid results initiative by the State Department for Diaspora Affairs in collaboration with the State Department for Immigration and Citizen Services, we are decentralising the Identity Card processing to other cities away from where the Embassy or consulates are located. This is undertaken through the Mobile Consular Services (MSC) outreach exercise, which has seen over 2,459 identity cards processed in outstations in Seattle, Atlanta, Minnesota, Dallas, Boston, and Houston. Another phase of the MCS is being planned for the third quarter of the FY 2024/25,” Mudavadi told the Senate.

He however regretted that processing of Identity Cards (IDs) is entirely manual, and verification of all applications has to be done by the National Registration Bureau.

“This causes a bit of delay, especially at Missions that are not well staffed. In addition, in the event of queries, the request has to be channeled back to the Mission to seek clarity from the applicant.

“Issues of registration on eCitizen, where the system sometimes rejects foreign numbers where the One Time Password (OTP) has to be sent to the particular phone number used for registration. We are now sensitizing the diaspora to use the email option. We are engaging some of our local telcos companies on an option of an E-Simcard, which the diaspora can use while away for both eCitizen service access and the mobile banking needs,” noted Mudavadi.

The Prime CS also stated that work is progress in formulating a session paper on Foreign and Diaspora Affairs, which will be presented before parliament for enriching to help outline and position key areas of concern into focus and drive Kenya’s foreign and diaspora engagements to the next level.

This he said will anchor key policies in law and help move the conversation towards a direction that will be beneficiary to the country and people in the diaspora at large.

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