Kenya-Germany complete Labour Mobility Negotiations

Kenya's PS Shadrack Mwadime and German's Dr.Joachim Stamp signing the agreed finalised draft of the Bilateral Later Agreement in  Nairobi yesterday.[Photo, Courtesy]

Kenya and Germany have successfully concluded the negotiations of the draft Comprehensive Migration and Mobility Partnership Agreement.

A deal that if signed will see streamlines in labour migration rules, opening the doors for employment opportunities for professional, skilled and semi-skilled workers in Germany was signed after negotiations took place in Nairobi on May 14 and 15.

Shadrack Mwadime, Principal Secretary for Labour and Skills Development headed the Kenyan delegation while PS Roseline Njogu of  Diaspora Affairs was the lead negotiator on Kenya's side.

The German Federal Republic delegation on the other hand was led by Doctor  Joachim Stamp, the Special Commissioner for Migration Agreements, and Holger Schamberg from the Ministry of Interior and Community.

"Being an international bilateral agreement, the draft agreement shall be subjected to the relevant internal legal and procedural checks by both governments,” stated the officials in a joint statement communique.

The official signing is scheduled for September 2024 as the implementation of the agreement will commence with a job fair in Nairobi.

PS Mwadime affirmed his commitment to the process which he said will smoothen the labour mobility for Kenyans.

"We are committed to developing a clear framework to allow migration of Kenyan skilled workers in a safe, orderly, and regular manner. This will ease mobility and fastrack migration between the two countries." PS Mwadime said.

The two countries agreed to form the joint committee in February this year following a meeting held in Berlin between Labour CS Florence Bore and her German counterpart Hubertus Heil.

The ongoing negotiations result from the initiative conceptualized between President William Ruto and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

During the first meeting, CS Bore informed the German government of the measures in place to streamline Labour Migration through the restructuring of its policies and legal and institutional framework to support seamless Migration and mobility with Germany.

"Kenya seeks to fill the skills deficit in Germany's labour market with its well-trained, qualified, hardworking and disciplined labour force in various fields of ICT, health care, construction, engineering, agriculture and hospitality among others. We are able and ready to supply the required labour to fill in the skills deficient in your labour market," said the CS.