The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has unveiled plans to establish six diaspora resource centres abroad, giving distressed Kenyans a safe place to seek assistance when things go wrong overseas.

🇰🇪 Breaking It Down

According to a report by the State Department for Diaspora Affairs (SDDA) shared by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on August 16, the safe houses will be established in select Kenyan missions over the next three financial years, from 2027/28 to 2029/30.

This follows the department’s opening of only one such centre in Thailand during the 2023/24–2025/26 Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) period.

The single safe house fell short of the two centres targeted, highlighting the slow progress in establishing such facilities.

📌 What You Need to Know

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs now wants to fix that gap by rolling out six fully equipped resource centers in missions abroad within the new medium-term plan.

The department has ranked this initiative among its top 14 priorities, describing it as a way to safeguard the welfare and rights of Kenyans living overseas.

In this plan, the target is to operationalize two resource centers every single year, from 2027/28 right through to 2029/30.

These centres will fall under the Diaspora Economic, Commercial, and Cultural Affairs sub-program, which handles welfare services for Kenyans abroad.

Money has already been factored in, with the sub-program requiring Ksh767.8 million in 2027/28, rising to Ksh871.6 million in 2028/29 financial period, a figure that climbs further to Ksh873.8 million by 2029/30, forming part of the department's wider recurrent budget request.

Overall, the State Department is asking for Ksh 1.75 billion, Ksh 1.97 billion, and Ksh 2.06 billion across the three respective financial years from the National Treasury to see this plan come to fruition.

📰 Source: Kenyans.co.ke