The government has organised a diaspora conference in Nairobi that seeks to entice Kenyans living abroad with investment opportunities in a bid to double remittances to more than Sh240 billion.
Mr Zachary Muburi-Muita, the Director of Diaspora and Consular Affairs at the Foreign Affairs ministry, said the conference will be jointly funded by the government and the private sector at a cost of Sh40 million.
During the event, which will be held from December 19 to 20, the national government will explain to Kenyans in the diaspora the services they could access through an online Huduma Centre.
At the physical Huduma Centres in the country, Kenyans can get all government documents under one roof.
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission will also sensitise the participants on the modalities of voting while abroad, as the new constitution allows Kenyan citizens to vote from wherever they are in the world.
Only those in the East African region voted in the March 4, 2013 General Election but the courts ordered that all Kenyans in the diaspora should be allowed to vote in subsequent elections.
County governments have also been roped in to exhibit the investment opportunities in their devolved units.
Various private companies will also have stands with opportunities that the Kenyans in the diaspora can take advantage of.
“We have had many cases of people investing all their money through dishonest relatives, and then sent pictures of neighbours’ houses as their own,” said Mr Muburi.
“We want them to invest through formal institutions so that if anything happens, we can go for these companies using the law of the land.”
Organisers will take advantage of the Christmas period when thousands of the so-called summer bunnies visit Kenya for holidays.
-nation.co.ke
