Hundreds of successful applicants during the ongoing recruitment for work in foreign countries have been locked out after they failed their medical tests due to communicable diseases and substance abuse, Labour Cabinet Secretary Alfred Mutua has revealed.

Mutua warned that foreign countries looking for Kenyans to work there were not ready to take people who smoked bhang and similar substances.

“If you know you smoke bhang, don’t waste your time attending these recruitment exercises because you will not travel.

“These countries are very keen about infectious diseases and also about drugs,” the CS said when he presided over a recruitment exercise at the Nyandarua National Polytechnic.

He told those who were successful during the Nyandarua exercise to be ready to submit their blood for testing.

Dr Mutua said since the current phase of recruitment started, 5,919 people from six counties have so far been given job offers through the exercise.

Machakos 752, Makueni 410, Kitui 901, Nakuru 2000 and Baringo 340 people qualified for the job offers, he said.

“My plan is that before Christmas, all these people will have travelled to their job destination,” The CS assured.

He took those in attendance through the expenses they are likely to meet including air tickets and medical covers saying some European countries don’t provide them.

“These are the expenses the recruiting agencies will give you and they are not uniform since different countries have different requirements,” The CS said.

Mutua said the recruitment exercise will take a break to allow for clearing of all people who have been successful.

He said the recruitment agencies need time to deal with the clearance of the successful people so they can travel.

He said the exercise will resume after Jamhuri Day.

Nyandarua County Commissioner Abdirisack Jaldesa urged the youths to seek documents like certificates of good conduct which can be applied through the Huduma Centres countrywide.

PS for Labour Mwandime said it was the first time the Ministry was going to the ground to sensitize people on jobs available in the Diaspora. He said the Ministry had started a sector skills committee to advise learning institutions to align their curriculum with labour market needs.

“We look for any gaps so that we inform the curriculum so that people take courses they have guarantee of getting employment not just locally but also in the international labour market,” Mwadime said.