On Tuesday, a group of Kenyan Business Community in Britain met with Kenya’s High Commissioner to the UK, Amb. Manoah Esipisu during a Diaspora Business Dinner in London.
The event was organized by Kenya High Commission London to explore further areas of trade and engagement post-Brexit and to unclog current barriers to movement of goods and people between UK and Kenya
The forum which was held in a London hotel and sponsored by Equity Bank, saw a number of issues that Kenyans doing business in the UK being addressed.
One of the Diaspora participants highlighted how those living and working abroad feel left out by the government of Kenya terming it as “feeling half Kenyans” since there lacks a dedicated ministry for diaspora affairs.
He recommended that the government of Kenya should consider introducing a Ministry of Diaspora.
According to him, this would enhance bilateral engagement, leading to Kenyans being able to take up more opportunities in UK, consequently leading to increased remittances.
In his response, Mr Esipisu assured Kenyan business community in UK of collaboration between his office and that of the commercial attaché to support both import and export companies.
The Kenyan Diplomat guaranteed that he is currently working to improve the telephone system in his office as it has recently been overwhelmed by ID and Passport matters.
According to him, plans are in place to set up a better detailed system.
The need of an organized system of communication between the High Commissioner’s office, and the diaspora community was established. This was because, the economic officer highlighted available business opportunities but lacked a reliable and consistent means of communicating about it to Kenyans in UK.
A number of those who attended, volunteered to be in the steering committee to bridge the gap and create a framework for engaging with the office.
The commercial attaché present gave out his number for direct communication with those looking to reach out with pressing issues as not every issue could be discussed in the forum.
