Kenya’s key export was coffee but now it’s cheap labour that is abused overseas

Did you miss last Friday’s “double-whammy”?  No, we aren’t talking about the mixed message “ODM@20” celebrations at the Coast.  No, it isn’t even about President William Ruto’s latest development tour, this time to the Sh850 billion economy that is Lower Eastern, or Ukambani, region, where he pledged (or launched?) Sh110 billion in “development” without timelines.

We refer today to a biting double piece by the New York Times on, to put it mildly, the travails of Kenyans working in Saudi Arabia.  In today’s nanosecond times, the headline is now the whole story, so we had two.  First, “Kenya’s key export used to be coffee; now it’s cheap labour”.  Then, “Kenyan workers get abused abroad.  The President’s family and allies benefit”.  Wow, and wow again!

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