Mandera South MP Abdul Haro has stated that Kenyans working in Somalia remit more than Ksh70 million to Kenya every day, saying their economic impact is frequently overlooked or wrongly portrayed.
Speaking on Tuesday, January 6, 2025, the legislator defended the contribution of the Somali community to Kenya’s economy, clarifying that the figure refers specifically to Kenyans employed in Somalia. He challenged critics to verify the data instead of dismissing it.
Haro further argued that Kenyan Somalis make up nearly 70 per cent of the country’s diaspora remittances, urging the public to broaden its view beyond traditional remittance sources such as Europe and North America.
“And actually, if you talk of remittances, the other day the president told us actually the remittances from outside this country are becoming one of the major foreign income earners. And Somalis contribute almost 70% of those remittances. Forget about the diaspora European countries,” he said.