Woman linked to Finland saga snubs senators

Judy Chepchirchir, the woman behind Eldoret-based First Choice Recruitment and Consultancy agency that has been linked to the multi-million-shilling jobs and Finland study scandal, snubbed the Senate’s Labour and Social Welfare committee that had gone to meet hundreds of victims of the scam.

Chepchirchir first hit the limelight after she launched her first cohort of students under the airlift programme two years ago at an event in Eldoret town.

The ceremony to flag off the students that were held at Teacher Advisory Centre (TAC) in Eldoret town was graced by Cabinet Secretary for Cooperative Development Simeon Chelugui and the then Uasin Gishu governor Jackson Mandago, who was arraigned in a Nakuru court yesterday in connection with the scandal.

Since then, victims of the First-Choice recruitment agency claim that whenever they lodge their complaints to the local police, the officers never take action.

According to reliable sources who declined to be named, Chepchirchir previously lived abroad and only returned to the country in 2012. Later, she was hired to manage the controversial First Choice Recruitment Agency and Consultancy associated with a prominent tycoon.

Although the Inspector General of Police, Japhet Koome at one time assured a parliamentary committee that Chepchirchir would be apprehended to answer questions regarding her role in the scholarships scandal in which unsuspecting Kenyans lost over Sh1.1 billion, she still remains free.

Yesterday, senators were left in shock when they arrived at the Uasin Gishu County Assembly, the venue of the meeting, only to be met with a message from Chepchirchir that she would not attend the meeting due to her lawyer’s absence. According to the message, her lawyer was attending a seminar in Mombasa.

The committee heard that over 10,000 unsuspecting youths paid the agency monies ranging between Sh150,000 and Sh500,000 to enable them to study in Poland, Canada and Australia.

Resila Makokha, a hawker in Eldoret town, took a loan of Sh437,000 last year and paid the agency after Chepchirchir promised to help her son pursue a master’s degree in Poland.

Lure youth

“When I met Chepchirchir at her recruitment agency’s office in Eldoret town, she encouraged me to pay for my son’s studies in Poland saying that once he landed there, he would secure a part-time job and be sending me money back home,” said Makokha.

He alleged that the First-Choice recruitment agency CEO continues to lure more youth to pay with the promise of securing them employment in the Gulf state.

“It is surprising to note that when the victims go to the police to report the matter, they are told to go and demand a refund of their money from Chepchirchir in her office,” said the county assembly Majority leader Gilbert Chepkonga.

Another victim, Emaculate Kiptoo, a mother of five, broke down in tears as she narrated how she was forced to take a loan of Sh150,000 to secure her three children’s job opportunities in Qatar through the recruitment agency which never materialised one year down the line.

An ad hoc committee that was constituted by the county assembly under the chairmanship of Chepkonga described Chepchirchir as arrogant, saying that their pleas to the police to have her arrested had fallen on deaf ears.

Chepkonga also expressed anger that one of their recommendations to the county government to revoke the company’s trading license and be banned from representing the county in any local and national events had been ignored.

He said that they were shocked when Chepchirchir was invited to speak on behalf of the county during the launching of over 5,000 digital government services on the e-citizen Kenya portal in a ceremony graced by President William Ruto at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC).

West Pokot Senator Murgor assured the victims that legislators will come up with a report which will compel Chepchirchir to account for her action. He expressed shock and dismay that Chepchirchir could skip the committee’s summons, terming her action as disturbing.

Data protection

Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei, also a member of the committee, accused the police of being compromised instead of helping the victims to get justice.

“Let me assure victims of the First-Choice recruitment agency that they will get justice at long last,” said Cherargei.

He said they will summon IG Koome and Immaculate Kassait, the Data Protection Commissioner, to shed light on the controversial recruitment agency.

“We would like to know why Chepchirchir has not been arrested since the IG made the commitment when he appeared before our committee in the Senate.

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