302 firms get nod to place Kenyans in jobs abroad

Labour Cabinet Secretary Simon Chelugui. PHOTO | LUCY WANJIRU | NMG

By LYNET IGADWAH
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Summary

• More than 300 private companies were registered last year to place Kenyans in jobs abroad amid rising demand for migrant workers.
• Labour Cabinet Secretary Simon Chelugui said the registrations were above the annual target of 240 companies.
• The recruitment agencies were subjected to vetting based on new regulations as Kenya seeks to end mistreatment of workers abroad.

More than 300 private companies were registered last year to place Kenyans in jobs abroad amid rising demand for migrant workers.

Labour Cabinet Secretary Simon Chelugui said the registrations were above the annual target of 240 companies.

The recruitment agencies were subjected to vetting based on new regulations as Kenya seeks to end mistreatment of workers abroad.

“We vetted and registered 302 private employment agencies to recruit Kenyans to the labour market abroad against a target of 240, owing to an increase in demand for labour abroad,” he said.

Cases of mistreatment of migrant workers -especially domestic workers -were on the rise in the Middle east countries compelling the government to intervene.

This resulted in a ban on export of labour in September 2014 with a task force set up to review the management of foreign employment.

In April 2016, the government lifted the ban on export of all categories except domestic and low skilled cadres.

Part of the task force’s recommendation was that outbound Kenyan migrant workers be subjected to a mandatory pre-departure training and verification of their contracts of employment before leaving the country.

“In a span of one year, 67,521 Kenya migrant workers have been trained against a target of 30,000 due to demand for labour abroad,” said Mr Chelugui during release of a progress report on the Ministry’s achievements.

The pre-departure training offered by an inter-ministerial vetting committee seeks to protect domestic and low skilled cadres from any mistreatment, abuse or job scam.opulation data for decision making.