State sets aside Sh100 million to evacuate Kenyans from Lebanon

Prime Cabinet Secretary and Foreign Affairs CS Musalia Mudavadi. [File, Standard]

Prime Cabinet Secretary and Foreign Affairs CS Musalia Mudavadi told the Senate that the government has set aside Sh100 million to evacuate Kenyans stranded in Lebanon as the Israel-Hamas war escalates.

Mudavadi who appeared before the Senate plenary Wednesday to answer questions said there are 26,000 Kenyans in Lebanon and evacuating all of them was costly.

He revealed that the Kenyan Embassy in Kuwait has send out a message for those who require support to register with it.

Migori Senator Eddy Oketch had asked Mudavadi whether there are proper legal services for Kenyans in the United States and whether the same is extended to other countries.

The Prime Cabinet Secretary responded that it was not possible to provide legal aid to all Kenyans in the diaspora.

“There are 3.5 million Kenyans in the diaspora and the government is not able to provide legal services to all of them. We have legal advisory desks in our Embassies, Kenyans in distress normally inform the embassy while others do not do that only for us to learn of the challenges in other channels,” he said.

Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei sought know what the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was doing to ensure that there are Labour attaches to address the concerns of Kenyans working abroad, Mudavadi responded that the country is working on bilateral labour agreements with Germany and Qatar among other states.

He admitted that it was an expensive undertaking and so far the government has intervened  in 1,800 cases of Kenyans who have died under different circumstances abroad.

Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna asked Mudavadi to explain how the staffing levels have impacted the operational efficiency of the Kenyan diplomatic missions and whether there are plans to deploy additional staff.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in collaboration with the Public Service Commission had in July finalized the organization structure departments of foreign affairs to determine the optimal staff needs and levels,” said Mudavadi.

The Prime Cabinet Secretary acknowledged that low staffing levels in Kenyan embassies abroad may lead to operational deficiencies which will occasion delays in processing visas, managing communications and executing policy initiatives.

Sifuna asked Mudavadi to explain the delay in the issuance  of national identity cards to Kenyans in the US.

“The Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs is not in a position to issue a comprehensive answer to this question since the role of issuing National Identity cards is the mandate of the Ministry of Interior and National Coordination, I therefore request that this question is redirected to the relevant ministry,” said Mudavadi.

The Prime Cabinet Secretary said his ministry was only serving as facilitating ministry.