400 youth stranded in Voi after false job promise at Standard Gauge Railway

Voi, Kenya: Over 400 job seekers from Tigania West Constituency in Meru County are stranded after they were transported into the county with false promises of jobs at the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) project.

The youth, among them a woman, claimed Wednesday that they had been registered in Tigania West, where they paid Sh 1,300 to facilitate their transport from Meru to Voi in Taita-Taveta County.

Speaking at Moi Stadium in Voi town, where they have camped for three days, the frustrated youth said they were divided into three groups and ferried in buses.

They said the first group arrived in the region on Monday morning while the two other groups arrived on Tuesday. A fourth group arrived Wednesday.

Upon arrival, the hungry and distraught youth failed to locate their agent at Voi stage, who had allegedly organized the trip.

One of the victims, Peter Kitonga , said that he was promised a jobs with SGR by officials in Tigania West, who had taken their names and ID numbers to register them.

He said those registered paid Sh1,300 to facilitate their trip to Voi, where they were to link up with their point man.

"We have not eaten for the past three days. The man who was supposed to meet us here has gone underground and we cannot get him through his phone," he said on Wednesday.

The stranded youth, who came with mattresses and other belongings, later went to Voi Police Station for help and were advised to try and locate the agent.

Some of them of them claimed that they had sold their personal property at home to raise the money for transport, only to be duped by the suspected conman, who had taken advantage of their desperation.

Voi Deputy OCPD Jonathan Muli confirmed that the group had sought help at the police station.

"The matter is being investigated. We are looking into the possibility that the group had fallen prey to an elaborate con-game," said the police officer, who warned Kenyans against contributing money to people they do not know well.