Hundreds of Kenyans raided the offices of a job agency in Nairobi to claim back millions they paid for jobs abroad. The too-familiar tale took a twist, with many claiming they travelled abroad only to be stranded with no jobs.
The angry Kenyans who protested at the offices demanded refunds, claiming that some of them were promised jobs and travelled 3,100 kilometres to Mauritius only to find no jobs.
The victims of the growing scam claim they found the jobs agency through advertisements online, and most of them paid upwards of Ksh200,000 for the jobs, but many are yet to be placed despite paying in full.
“I first paid Ksh80,000 as a down payment, and then I added Ksh145,000 for flight tickets,” recounted Faith Nasimiyu, a trained driver and a carer.
“The director told us she is in Mauritius, and the jobs are ready. She added that we should start with any job one finds,” she added.
Nasimiyu was among those who would count themselves lucky after she was cleared to fly to Mauritius for the job, but as she would find out, the job was only on paper. She would be stranded in a foreign country for three days with no food.
“We stayed there for three days. We had no food. They told us that we must wait for the plane that would take us,” Nasimiyu recalled.
Her tale is similar to that of Erick Ochieng’ who paid nearly Ksh500,000 for a relative to get a job in Mauritius only to be denied entry. “I gave him Ksh423,000 to work in Mauritius, but he was not allowed in. He was told he had been given a tourist visa,” narrated Ochieng’.
Another victim, Beatrice Njoki, revealed that she paid nearly Ksh200,000 and never got a job. She painstakingly narrated, “I had gotten a job in Mauritius, and I paid Ksh193,000, but there was no job.”
The company that, due to legal reasons, we have opted not to name, is located at Biashara Plaza in Nairobi. It has a presence on most social media sites, including Facebook, its biggest outlet, with 1.4k followers on its page.
The company describes itself as a travel agency offering visa applications, visa tracking, job hunting, hotel reservations, and flight booking services.
A review of its online posts shows it last posted in December. Its previous posts indicate advertisements for jobs in various places, including Saudi Arabia, especially in Dubai.
The jobs being advertised include guards, cleaners, hotel maintenance, baristas, and housekeepers. The posts indicate commissions ranging from Ksh10,000 to Ksh150,000 for the jobs. Some show a registration fee before interviews.
The revelations come as the government insists it plans to end all swindling of Kenyans seeking jobs abroad.
