• Nandi senator told the minister to explain why Kenyans are being conned daily by rogue recruitment agencies.
• The legislator also wanted to know the status of the investigations into the operations of Ms Worth Start Africa Limited.
Image: FILE
Kenyans seeking jobs abroad will no longer pay ‘processing’ fees to the recruitment agencies, Labour and Social Protection CS Alfred Mutua has said.
In addition, their travelling documents will no longer be held by the agencies.
These are among the tough measures the state has developed to tame rogue agencies that are minting millions from jobseekers.
Thousands of Kenyans have fallen prey to rogue agencies who have defrauded them of millions of shillings in fake overseas job deals.
In the Senate on Wednesday, CS Mutua said the state is instituting the reforms to protect Kenyans.
He was put to task to explain why the government has continued to allow rogue agencies to defraud jobless Kenyans seeking employment opportunities abroad.
Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei told the CS to explain why Kenyans are being conned daily by rogue recruitment agencies.
The legislator also wanted to know the status of the investigations into the operations of Ms Worth Start Africa Limited.
Cherargei challenged the CS to table agencies cleared to carry out recruitment, those blacklisted and those pending clearance.
He questioned the roles of the National Employment Authority (NEA) in the recruitment of Kenyans seeking job opportunities in foreign countries.
The lawmaker wanted the minister to state the requirements to be met by a recruitment agency to be permitted to operate by NEA.
“Could the CS provide a list of recruitment agencies cleared to operate by NEA and what steps are used to ensure that all companies registered under the National Employment Authority Integrated Management System are monitored and regulated?” Cherargei posed.
Mutua admitted to the existence of fraud cases, saying the DCI is working on more than 1,000 cases of Kenyans defrauded.
“My position is that a person who defrauds, if found guilty, will have their assets frozen and used to compensate Kenyans who have been stolen from,” he said
Mutua said in the new tough measures, Kenyans will not pay the processing fee.
“Agencies will not charge a Kenyan for processing fee but absorb that as part of their costs so that Kenyans are not defrauded by being told to pay a certain amount of money to be taken overseas,” he said.
According to the CS, the agencies are providing services and as such, should not charge Kenyans.
In yet another reform, Mutua said his ministry will soon start issuing clearance letters to Kenyans before they leave the country for job opportunities abroad.
In addition, the ministry will establish whether the recruitment agency is authorised by the government to operate in the country.
Mutua explained that the data will then be shared with Kenyan embassies abroad as part of an interlinked system to track Kenyans outside the country on job deals.
“Before one leaves the country, the ministry will ensure that their details are captured in the immigration database to know who is exactly leaving the country and where they are going,” he said.
The reforms will also bar the agencies from holding onto any travelling documents from jobseekers.
Further, the jobseekers will also be empowered through training on their rights.
“Nobody should hold your passport or other documents. We will ensure the system is streamlined and before anyone leaves to go and look for jobs, they know they can count on this country,” he said.
Mutua told senators that his ministry meetings with recruitment agencies in the country on how to streamline.
The meetings sought to identify the crooks, cut out the bureaucracy and reform different agencies in the value chain.
He said the agencies asked for the duration of annual renewal to be extended to make it easier for the agencies to register and work within the system.
“The new regulations and policies will streamline the industry and weed out the crooks,” Mutua said.