Kenya: Kenyans Still At Risk of Losing Jobs Under South Sudan's Foreign Workers Ban

Nairobi — Even after South Sudan amended an order issued last week prohibiting the employment of foreign workers, Kenyans working in Africa's newest country continue to be wary of the new policy's impact.

In a statement released September 12th, South Sudan's Minister of Labour, Public Service and Human Resources Management Ngor Kolong Ngor ordered non-governmental organisations, private companies, hotels, banks, insurance, telecommunications and petroleum companies "to notify all aliens working with them in all positions to cease working" within a month starting from September 15th.

According to Ngor, the directive was meant to protect the rights and interests of the people of South Sudan.

But in a statement issued Wednesday (September 17th), Ngor backpedalled to clarify the ministry's directive.

"[W]e are not talking about technical or professional positions such as nurses, head of missions, county directors and financial controllers of any institutions including banking, insurance, hotels and non-governmental organisations," said Ngor. "We are targeting low-level positions in various organisations, financial institutions, hotels etcetera, whose composition will not reach 40% of the total staffing structure."

Positions that are affected include executive secretaries, human resource managers, receptionists and procurement officers, according to the amended directive.

South Sudan Ambassador to Kenya Mariano Deng said the directive issued in the ministry's circular had been misinterpreted.

"The circular never refereed to technical and professional jobs but was only limited to jobs that locals can do well. This excludes all United Nations agencies and diplomatic missions," he told Sabahi.

Foreign Minister Barnaba Marial Benjamin also stressed the government "is not expelling any foreign worker in South Sudan".

"I can assure the fellow Kenyans in this country, not only Kenyans alone but Ugandans, Eritreans, Ethiopians and all the other neighbouring countries who are here, they are all very much welcome to this country," Benjamin added.

Maintaining neighbourly trade relations

But Richard Bosire, a political science and international relations professor at the University of Nairobi, called the directive, even in its amended version, "inconsiderate".

He said the order might be driven by the country's need to reshape its domestic interests and nationalise its labour markets, but it will ruin trade relations between the young nation and the international communities.

"It will also erode the goodwill the country has been enjoying from her neighbours and the world that will scuttle the country's development trajectory," he told Sabahi.

Similarly, Arthur Kamau, 27, a newspaper vendor in Nairobi, told Sabahi, "It is very unfortunate that a country that neighbours have struggled to help stand-up to its challenges, can come up with such policies that breed bad neighbourliness".

He said Kenya played a key role in the negotiations of the comprehensive peace agreement in 2005 that brought an end to civil war, and culminated to a successful secession between Sudan and South Sudan through a referendum in 2011.