The government has downplayed concerns over overseas job scams by sending more Kenyans abroad despite the continued public outcry, as more applicants are duped in the process. 

Speaking on Friday at Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC), Cabinet Secretary for Labour Alfred Mutua flagged off 60 Kenyans to Iraq amid complaints on the legitimacy of the process, saying the complaints about the scams are only emerging from quarters dealing with unregistered agents. 

The group, he said, will be leaving the country on Saturday, with an unnamed number of other Kenyans expected to travel for Germany, Russia and to other middle east countries in the coming days. 

“We have more people going next week. We have more people going in the next two weeks. People will continue travelling once we get the visas sent to us,” he said.  

This, even as the Senate initiated a probe into the government’s controversial ‘Kazi Majuu’ project, following allegations that some recruitment agencies defrauded Kenyan job seekers out of millions of shillings.

Appearing before the Senate Committee on Labour, some applicants recounted how they were initially asked to pay Sh15,000 for medical checks, money that they paid as requested. 

Weeks later, they were summoned (KICC) to collect offer letters but were instead asked to pay an additional Sh40,000 to facilitate visa processing and secure certificates of good conduct.

“CS Mutua announced the jobs at KICC. After interviews, successful applicants left their passports. Later, we were called back and asked to pay Sh20,000 for the medical check-up,” Calvin Nyamweya, an orphan who sought employment in Qatar, told the committee.

“My aunt paid the money, but to date, we have not received any refund,” he added.

Godfrey Githae, a carpenter from Nyeri, also shared his tribulations with the process after applying for a job in Iraq.  

“I borrowed Sh55,000 from my wife and in-laws to get a job abroad, but up to now, I have received nothing,” he explained. “I was told to wait for the visa, but the months have gone by without any response, and my business back home has collapsed

Doreen Biyaki, a grader operator from Embu, who had paid a similar sum hoping to secure a job said “we’ve been waiting for months, yet no one has reached out to us. It’s devastating,” she said. 

Preliminary report by the committee shows that over 300 Kenyans have been scammed in the overseas job-seeking process, with many left languishing in distress.

The defiance by the government to send Kenyans abroad is also happening against a backlash after a group was deported back to the country from Qatar. 

Upon arriving in Qatar, the Kenyans were reportedly found to have had their pre-departure medical reports doctored, forcing the authorities there to deport them.

They are seeking answers from the government even as they grapple with the financial burden that the process has plunged them into, with others revealing they took loans to fund the process.

However, CS Mutua has since dismissed the claims of the suspected fraud, maintaining that the complainants have either fallen victims of fraud by rogue unregistered agents, or were “impatient with the recruitment process.”

While decrying the lack of statements from victims of the scams for fear of their lives following intimidation by the rogue agencies, he noted, the government is in the process of prosecuting the firms to end the con game. 

“Most of the victims have been intimidated by the ‘wakora’ (scammers) and have gone into hiding. They fear speaking, and that gives the authorities a hard time processing charges against the firms,” he said. 

He said about 700 rogue agencies have been deregistered, even as he admitted laxity by the government to prosecute them. 

“There’s a slowness in prosecution, which we have discussed, and I’m going to make sure they are prosecuted,” he stated. 

For the “impatient” lot, he declared that the Ministry will blocklist them, urging others who cannot also wait to ask for refund of their money. 

“Ask to be refunded. But you can’t get the full amount because the money was used for medical expenses. You have to go FOR X-ray, there’s a cost to somebody. That cost has already been expended,” he said. 

“You cannot expect to change your mind, and then somebody bears that cost. So that cost is deducted, and you get the rest of your money. That is your right,” he added.