The Senate Committee on Labour and Social Welfare, chaired by West Pokot Senator Julius Murgor, on Thursday, June 22, directed a recruitment agency to refund aggrieved job seekers who accused it of running a scam syndicate.
Senators ordered the jobseekers to be compensated within a month and directed the recruiting agency to present a detailed report within the given timelines.
"The Committee has advised the management of the recruitment agency to engage with the petitioners in the presence of the labour officer at the earliest to chart a way forward regarding reimbursement of the unpaid dues to the complainants and present before the committee a written report on the same in one month," read part of the statement.
Led by the committee chairperson, Julius Murgor, the members interrogated the agency's management, Co-operative's Cabinet Secretary Simon Chelugui and Uasin Gishu Senator Jackson Mandago.
Chelugui and Mandago served as Labour CS and Uasin Gishu governor, respectively, when the recruitment agency engaged desperate jobseekers.
The duo, however, argued that they only attended the agency's launch after they were invited as guests of honour.
According to the National Employment Authority (NEA), the agency was denied permits for mass recruitment in May 2022 since they lacked a valid registration certificate and had also not submitted the job order.
The committee divulged that the agency failed to submit documents detailing names of jobseekers who paid to secure employment or those who were facilitated to fly to Qatar.
In the scandalous recruitment, the victims reportedly paid between Ksh40,000 and Ksh100,000 to secure jobs in the Middle East during the 2022 World Cup.
On June 9, while narrating his ordeal to the committee, one of the victims was overcome by emotions, forcing the session to halt temporarily.
According to the youth, he wanted to be refunded to take care of his mother and return to school to pursue his Masters.
“I had goals and hopes for my life. I wanted to get my Masters before I turn 30. Now I am approaching 30, and have not gone to school yet,” he told the committee.
