Mutua dismisses claims of overseas job seekers being swindled as fake news
Job seekers told the Senate Labour Committee that there have been delays in traveling for the jobs despite paying for their travel and other facilitations.
Labour Cabinet Secretary Alfred Mutua has dismissed the plea by hundreds of Kenyans who are seeking compensation after claiming of been swindled by the ministry, the National Employment Authority (NEA) over overseas jobs.
Speaking at the International Labour Day celebrations at Uhuru Gardens, Mutua claimed that the news about the hundreds of overseas job seekers’ lamentations before the Senate Committee on Labour earlier this week about being swindled in the Kazi Majuu programme are fake.
Mutua claimed that the news is set to discourage youths seeking to work abroad.
“We have fake news on labour mobility pathways, which are being used to either mislead the youths or discourage them, and we are dealing with them,” the CS said.
The former Machakos governor, however, acknowledged challenges of cartels and rogue agencies swindling Kenyans of their cash in the process of seeking overseas employment.
“There are a few challenges impeding the progress of some programmes. Cartels and rogue agencies are taking advantage of Kenyans,” he stated.
He claimed that the ministry will be seeking for over half a million opportunities for Kenyans in various countries abroad.
The CS added that measures will be put in place for safety, as they are now in charge, adding that they have dismantled cartels.
“We have embarked on various areas to employ our people. We anticipate 500,000 opportunities overseas. We have put measures in place to ensure orderly and safe migration and mobility. We have started to dismantle cartels who had controlled the space for years, and we will continue to do so despite their theatrics,” he stated.
His remarks come after a group of job seekers in the Kazi Majuu initiative told the Senate Labour Committee that there have been delays in traveling for the jobs despite paying for their travel and other facilitations.
“When we got to Kabete, we were told it is a must that we pay the medical fees of Ksh 15,000,” Fredrick Maburi explained.
Robert Orioki, a driver from Kisii, who failed to live his dream after promises to get a job in one of the Gulf countries by end of last year failed to materialise.
“That time, we were told that we would not even celebrate Christmas in Kenya. We paid the money and still had Christmas in the Country. They again pushed it to the New Year, but still nothing happened,” he told the Senators.
Their efforts to get a word from the recruitment agencies and the National Employment Authority (NEA), together with the Mutua-led ministry, proved futile
“When we were asking them who is in charge of ensuring we travel for the jobs, they said ‘Madam’ is in charge. When you ask where the ‘madam’ is, they do not know where she is,” Godfrey Githae explained.
They revealed that when the situation got out of hand, some of the agencies involved in the recruitment process began refunding the money to the victims.
It was shared that some had paid as high as Ksh 55, 000 each for the services but not all the money was refunded.
“I asked why they refunded Ksh 37,000, of which there is no processing that they did that was among those listed for Ksh 55,000.
The victims want the government to refund their money in total or ensure they get the jobs as they had been promised earlier on.
“If the jobs were a scam, I beg that the committee intervene on our behalf to ensure we have our money paid in full.
The Senate committee is expected to summon the Labor CS to provide answers to the queries raised.
“I would like the committee to dig deeper into the offer letters, refunds to understand who the scammers are,” Senator Gloria Orwoba pleaded.
“We shall summon CS Mutua together with NEA to shed more light on the matter,” Kanar Seki, Kajiado Senator, who chairs the Senate Labor Committee, promised.
The government-led initiative Kazi Majuu drive took place in December last year.
It was fashioned as a silver bullet to end Job oversee scandals but seems to add to the long list of con games similar to the Mandago Finland Scam for Uasin Gishu that happened when he was the governor.
