Africans in the Diaspora - Return Home ?!?!

Here is a very compelling piece by Mr. Kilemi Mwiria the Assistant Minister for Higher Education, Science and Technology and MP for Tigania West, Kenya

We do not need ‘dream team’ to tap Kenyan talent abroad

Often when I encounter Africans living in Europe and America, I get rather disappointed by their complaining about how terrible things are back home. If you challenge them to come home and make things better some say they are not wanted. Others tell us to make Kenya more attractive in terms of competitive salaries, improved governance and provision of relevant infrastructure as a condition for their return.

Some have a point. African governments have done little to attract our best talents back home. We have even failed to take advantage of external initiatives, which support repatriation of African talents by not offering any incentives to potential returnees. But we seem happy with donors paying exceptionally high salaries to a few returning professionals as with "The dream team" during the Kanu days and expensive consultants in government ministries.

There are Kenyans who would give up high profile jobs with international organisations and top private enterprises in the West if we can match what they earn out there. These Kenyans effectively compete with people from all over the world and get recruited for their competence in societies where merit overrides all other considerations, including whether or not your parent is the boss of the recruiting firm. This category has no visa problem; instead they are offered many incentives such as paid holidays to Africa in order to retain them.

One reason advanced for not tapping such talent is disruption of the public pay structure where new recruits may earn more than their supervisors. Yet, it is never a problem to pay foreign consultants the same or higher salaries than more qualified Kenyans. In any case, there are Kenyans who earn salaries higher than the average top western executive, including MPs, Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission employees and some heads of parastatals.

There cannot be more than a thousand Kenyans out there who would require to be remunerated at the same level, so I think we can afford it. If well managed they will be more than worth their pay and we shall get much better value than we do from many political appointees who are best in retirement.

But there are also Kenyan managers who are threatened by the qualifications, experience, work ethic, attitudes and innovative ways of new entrants and often remind them that "this is Africa where we do it this way", thus discouraging many.

Positive values

I believe that we should offer interested Kenyans in the Diaspora at least the barest minimum pay to make them feel wanted. Given their experience with more efficient bureaucracies they can add much value to our Civil Service and parastatals such as universities. We should also go for the thousands of skilled and semi-skilled workers -teachers, engineers, doctors, etc. There is much to learn from Kenyan electricians, plumbers, carpenters and masons based in the West because of their exposure. With the construction boom, there is enough work for them in Kenya.

In addition to job related skills, Kenyans abroad will bring positive values related to honesty, time management, respect for the rule of law and integrity.

Some overseas based Kenyans will not return for lack of relevant certificates and financial resources for decent living or business or because they cannot find a job. A few such cases have come back only to head back overseas when they find age mates they left behind well settled and because they cannot stomach association with failure when crossing seas has always been associated with great success by those left behind. But there are also the selfish and pompous types who exaggerate their superiority by virtue of having lived in the West.

As we search for overseas-based Kenyan talent, we should recognise and reward top Kenyan professionals who have opted to stay home while ignoring better opportunities abroad. They have chosen patriotism in order to make Kenya a better place for all of us.

SOURCE: THE STANDARD