Nairobi — Former Chief Justice and presidential hopeful David Maraga has warned that Kenya risks repeating Africa's historical trauma of enslavement by exporting its youth abroad in search of work.
Maraga said Africa continues to carry "unspoken wounds" from the loss of its people centuries ago, cautioning that modern labour migration could deplete Kenya's best talent under the guise of overseas employment opportunities.
"Our beloved Africa still lives with the unspoken wounds of losing her children to enslavement centuries ago," he said in a statement on Thursday.
"Shipped across the oceans, the depletion of Africa's best talent is a tale that seems to be repeating itself in 21st-century Kenya, only this time, through the seemingly innocuous guise of helping young people earn a living abroad."
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Maraga criticised what he termed the "dark greed" of exporting Kenyan labour instead of creating sustainable jobs locally.
"We cannot, ever, in this free Africa, fall prey to that dark greed of shipping off our best across the oceans to build foreign lands on the cheap, through suffering and indignity," he said.
The former CJ added that if elected, his administration would end policies that treat citizens as exportable labour and instead invest in domestic opportunities.
"My government will jealously protect our people as our most treasured resource," Maraga said. "It is against the very nature of elected governance to trade off our people as labour to foreign lands instead of expanding opportunities at home and ending the corruption that is bleeding our economy."
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Maraga's comments come amid a growing debate over Kenya's bilateral labour agreements with the Middle East and Europe. The government argues these agreements create employment, but critics warn they expose workers to abuse, trafficking, and long-term brain drain.
Days earlier, President William Ruto defended Kenya's labour migration policy, highlighting its contribution to economic growth. Speaking at the opening of the 14th International Association of Refugee and Migration Judges (IARMJ) World Conference in Nairobi on November 17, Ruto said the government has expanded bilateral agreements to provide more jobs for Kenyans.
He singled out recent deals with Germany and Austria, as well as ongoing talks with Qatar, as examples of "positive, orderly migration."
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"In the last two years, about 430,000 Kenyans have secured jobs outside the country," Ruto said.
He added that the rise in labour migration has boosted Kenya's diaspora remittances by an additional one billion dollars, supporting domestic development.
"We have migration in a positive sense. As a result of more Kenyans working abroad, we received a billion dollars more in diaspora remittances, and we are using it to build our country," he said.
Ruto acknowledged the risks of migration but insisted that it offers strong benefits when managed properly, highlighting the importance of skills transfer and technology exchange as Kenya undertakes major development projects.
