Lee Kinyanjui: Kenya to regulate foreign workers, emphasizes shift to digital services
By Mustafa Juma, November 20, 2025Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Investments, Trade and Industry, Lee Kinyanjui, has emphasised the need to regulate foreign labour while highlighting the government’s ongoing push for digital transformation in service delivery.
Speaking in an interview with a local TV station on Wednesday, November 19, 2025, CS Kinyanjui noted that Kenya faces unemployment challenges, and as such, the country cannot afford to allow unrestricted entry of workers from around the world.
“Kenya may not be very keen to open its doors for anybody from all over the world to come and work in Kenya. We obviously have unemployment issues. That is a matter that needs to be regulated,” he said.
Digitisation of services
On the digitisation front, the CS praised the progress made so far while acknowledging there is room for improvement.
“Kenya has been lauded for its digitisation. We may not be exactly where we want to be, but in the future, taking government services digital will allow us to be more accessible and transparent, and it will reduce the human transaction that is necessary,” he added.
Kinyanjui’s remarks come at a time when the government is intensifying efforts to streamline public service delivery, improve transparency, and reduce bureaucratic inefficiencies.
The country’s development
At the same time, he called out Kenyans for their reluctance to embrace policies necessary for the country’s development.
According to him, the country cannot object to more taxes, reject loans from outside, or object to the use of the private sector to build infrastructure, which obviously costs money.
“I think the problem we have as Kenyans is sometimes what we don’t understand, we tend to object to it even when it has been proven to work elsewhere. We cannot say we don’t want more taxes, we don’t want loans from outside, and we don’t want to use the private sector to build infrastructure because somehow it will cost money. Where will the money come from?” he questioned.