Kenya: Private employment agencies have acknowledged the presence of rogue agencies in the industry and called upon the Government to speed up vetting.

The Kenya Association of Private Employment Agencies (KAPEA) yesterday threw its weight behind the government’s effort to weed out unscrupulous agencies.

Chairperson Khadija Asman said brokers and briefcase agencies have infiltrated the industry with some colluding with registered offices to export domestic workers without proper documentation. Ms Asman said a few players are out to tarnish the image of the industry that is contributing towards the government’s goal of creating a million jobs annually.

“This is done by people who have no regard at all for this business,” she said. She noted that about 90 per cent of the distressed cases in the Middle East don’t know their local agencies. “Some of our agencies have taken girls out there who are now in distress. Be wary if you know you are that type of a person you must put your act together. We are going to prevail upon the government. We will not allow these blanket sanctions. Everybody will have to carry his/her own cross,” Asman told a gathering of private employment agencies in Nairobi, yesterday.

The event had been organised by KAPEA to deliberate on the way forward following the government’s suspension of the business last month. “Any person doing unscrupulous business will have to be tried in the court of law,” added Asman.

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On September 29, Labour Cabinet Secretary Kazungu Kambi revoked the licences of all agencies recruiting Kenyans to work in the Middle East, citing the existence of many briefcase agencies.

Mr Kambi also temporarily suspended the recruitment and movement of domestic workers to the Gulf region and Middle East saying the 930 agencies licensed by the government would undergo fresh vetting before acquiring operating permits.

It is estimated that over 100,000 migrant workers from Kenya were exported to the Middle East between January and September this year.