•MPs want the sector overhauled and operations started on a clean slate.
•Demands emerged in a meeting with Foreign Affairs CS Alfred Mutua.
Image: HANDOUT/PARLIAMENT
MPs have demanded fresh registration of agencies that recruit Kenyans to work in foreign nations.
The National Assembly’s Diaspora Affairs and Migrant Workers committee wants existing licenses cancelled and new regulations put in place to govern the sector.
The demands emerged when the Taita Taveta MP Lydia Haika-led committee met Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Alfred Mutua in Nairobi.
MPs present at the meeting were Mt Elgon’s Fred Kapondi, Charity Kathambi (Njoro), Donya Doris (Kisii) and Pamela Njoki (Embu).
The lawmakers held that more Kenyans would end up in foreign countries as undocumented workers, citing existing cases of human trafficking.
“Why do we keep on renewing licenses for rogue recruitment agencies? We need to cancel all permits and develop new regulations for the recruitment of migrant workers,” MP Haika said.
In calling for starting on a clean slate, the lawmakers further demanded fresh vetting of the operators of the said agencies.
“We consequently will need to get a new vetting team for these agencies. We also need to borrow from the experiences of countries whose workers have been granted favourable working conditions,” the MP said.
She said it was baffling that the government “continued to renew licenses for unscrupulous employment agencies despite the distress they had put up their recruits through over the years.”
CS Mutua, in his response, said the call for fresh vetting, registration and licensing of recruiting agencies was welcome, adding that the government would take it up.
The Foreign Affairs ministry, he said, would propose to not only register all those contracted as migrant workers, but to also issue a clearance certificate to them before they are allowed to leave the country.
“We are proposing that before a contracted migrant worker leaves the country, we issue them a clearance certificate. This way, we will have data on who has left, where they are based, and what they have been hired to do,” Mutua said.
He also revealed plans by the government to ensure that those earmarked for engagement as migrant workers go through pre-departure training so as to sensitise them on what to expect.
CS Mutua told the lawmakers that his office would liaise with Labour and Social Security ministry to have Labour attachés stationed in countries where huge numbers of Kenyan migrant workers are based.
The CS said the government’s only concern was that some of the attachees have ended up doubling up as agents, exacerbating the situation.
“There is need to vet those who are already posted out there as attachés as some have ended up doubling up as agents,” Mutua said.
He exuded confidence that cases of abuse of Kenyan domestic workers would reduce, especially in the Gulf where they are prevalent.
Mutua said he has held talks, which were bearing fruit, with various governments where such abuses have been reported.
“My recent efforts of engaging with the governments, especially in the gulf countries, have paid off. There are now fewer cases of reportedly distressed Kenyans abroad,” the CS said.
This was even as MPs urged the government to safeguard the welfare of Kenyans in the diaspora, underscoring the importance of disapora remittances as a foreign exchange earner.
In the spirit of the sought collaborations, the MPs asked the ministry to organise forums for a conversation with employment agencies.
The meeting sought to establish the policies and programmes the executive has put in place for the protection of the welfare of Kenyans in the diaspora and migrant workers.
There are concerns by various stakeholders that the state is yet to do enough to save the workers’ plight.