State assures on safety of locals abroad

Labour and Skills Development Principal Secretary Shadrack Mwadime has assured of government’s commitment to end mistreatment of Kenyans working abroad, especially the Middle East.

Mwadime said the government has streamlined recruitment agencies and urged Kenyans wishing to work abroad to get job openings from the National Employment Authority website.

Addressing journalists when he paid a courtesy call to the Kilifi County Commissioner on Monday, 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

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 added

He said the department of labour has partnered with the Youth Enterprise fund to offer loans to those who want to travel and work abroad.

“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 300,000 shillings. 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 for travel and medical examination expenses.

The PS also 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 works 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