A lobby group protecting human rights has asked President Uhuru Kenyatta to disband the entire National Employment Authority (NEA) over integrity issues.
The group under the banner “Operation Ondoa Panya petitioned President Kenyatta to move speed and sack entire authority saying that since inception it has been the stumbling block for young people to access jobs because of what they termed as unrealistic rules put in place.
“ The creation of the National Employment Authority (NEA) has become a curse other than blessing to Kenyan youth. Ministry of labor and NEA are now the chief saboteurs to President Uhuru legacy project on youth employment both locally and abroad,” said the National Coordinator Operation Ondoa Panya John Wamagata.
Wamagata added, “ It has come to our knowledge that over 500,000 youth’s dream to work abroad have been dimmed by NEA due to corruption and political interests. May youths with visas cannot take up foreign jobs due to many bottlenecks brought about by the authority ineptitude, corruption and sabotage”.
Wamagata who led a group of agitated youth at the authority’s offices in Kasarani alleged the authority has blatantly refused to heed the prayers of industry stakeholders especially the recruitment agencies to review the bilateral labor agreement with Saudi Arabia that was due for review in 2019.
“ Despite the Saudi Arabia’s willingness to review the bilateral agreement, NEA has reluctantly refused to cooperate with them,” said Jane Njeri, a member of the group.
Further, Njeri also accused NEA for introducing forced education and certification for unskilled jobs that do not require any certificate or training thus denying disadvantaged and vulnerable Kenyans access to millions of jobs available abroad.
When reached for comment the authority’s acting director general Edith Okoki laughed off the allegations maintaining that she has been working closely with those who follow law to the latter.
“ I have received the allegations but the reality is that we have been doing our work as mandated by the law,” said Okoki before hanging her phone.
She said that Kenya is mainly targeting countries with a deficit of skilled workers such the UAE, Jordan, and Canada.
NEA was formed in 2016 to identify vacancies and connect potential job seekers.