The Kenya Human Rights Commission has called on the Senate labour committee to expedite investigations into the alleged scandal involving First Choice Recruitment and Consulting agency.
KHRC in a statement on Wednesday further called on the National Employment Authority (NEA) to take the necessary steps to protect the unemployed against any form of abuse or exploitation.
The commission said NEA must move with speed and collaborate with other relevant government agencies to ensure the young people who have allegedly been exploited get justice.
This, the commission said, should include full and speedy compensation for those affected.
It is now demanding that those responsible be brought to justice and that measures should be put in place to prevent such incidents from recurring in the future.
“These agencies operate with reckless abandon, sending people to death traps in the Middle East, in the name of securing them jobs and yet no accountability is realized,” KCHR said.
“NEA must see this as a reminder that vigilance and accountability are essential in maintaining the integrity of Kenya's job market,” it noted.
This is after reports that the agency owned by Judy Jepchirchir, allegedly conned the victims millions of shillings in return for lucrative jobs in Qatar.
It is alleged that over 1,000 job seekers fell prey to the scam with the amounts lost by victims ranging between Sh40,000 to Sh650,000.
The victims, mostly youths, come from Trans Nzoia, Nakuru, Uasin Gishu and Elgeyo Marakwet counties.
On Wednesday last week, Jepchirchir and her lawyer Henry Kenei were sent away by the Senate Labour Committee investigating the alleged scam.
This is after they declined to apologise for writing a letter accusing the panel of being partisan and siding with the petitioners.
