The government is committed to ending mistreatment of Kenyans working abroad, especially in the Middle East, Labour and Skills Development PS Shadrack Mwadime has said.
He urged Kenyans seeking to work abroad to get job openings from the National Employment Authority website.
Mwadime said the government had vetted all recruitment agencies and directed them to upload all job offers on the National Recruitment Authority website.
“After the vetting, we cleared about 500 recruitment agencies. If you go to the website, you will find that the genuine recruitment agencies that we cleared are in black ink while those that still have issues are in red ink. Kenyans should avoid all the recruitment agencies that are in red ink,” he said in Kilifi on Monday.
The PS said most people suffer because of ignorance and relying on illegal recruitment agencies.
“If an agency is not in the National Recruitment Authority website that agency is not genuine,” he said.
The department of labour has partnered with the National Youth Enterprise Fund to offer loans to those who want to travel and work abroad, Mwadime said.
“The National Youth Enterprise Fund is giving soft loans to Kenyans who wish to migrate abroad and partake of the opportunities opening up there. We agreed on a facility amounting to Sh300,000. And you know the interest rate from government institutions is way low from what you can obtain from commercial financial institutions,” he said.
The loan is meant to cater to travel and medical examination expenses.
The PS said the Kenyan government had signed human rights based bilateral labour agreements.
“The mistreatments we used to hear when our people go to work in the Middle East will be addressed through these agreements. The contracts will allow the workers to have off days and their salaries on time,” he said.
The government has also established a toll free number that works 24/7 to help Kenyan works in distress.
“The first course of action is to call the number and we will be able to link that call with the labor officer attached to that area. For those outside the country we will link them up to embassies in the respective countries for immediate assistance,” he added.
Kilifi county commissioner Josephat Biwott said many agencies have been shut down in the county.
He said the government is setting up offices for labour officers in the county.
