Agency defends role in botched Qatar job recruitment scam

The management of an embattled recruitment agency that promised more than 2,000 youth non-existent jobs in Qatar has come out to defend itself from accusations of embezzlement even as the row surrounding the scam intensify.

First Choice Recruitment and Consultancy Limited based in Eldoret is said to have collected millions of shillingsfrom the youth drawn from various parts of Rift Valley promising to place them World Cup-related jobs in Qatar.

But the firm’s Managing Director Judy Jepchirchir yesterday said her organisation can account for the cash collected from the youth who were promised jobs such as receptionists, cashiers and cleaners among others in Qatar and other countries.

According to Ms Jepchirchir, the youth who were anticipating to work on short term basis in the Gulf country paid Sh40,000 of which Sh10,000 was meant for registration and medical checkup.

“The remaining Sh30,000 was facilitation fee and placement for work. Our aim was to ensure that as many youths as possible go to Qatar for them to better their lives and that of their families,” Ms Jepchirchir said during a live morning interview at a Kalenjin radio station yesterday.

She said that her organization has managed to airlift more than 6,000 youth to Qatar since its inception three years ago, adding that this information can be obtained from the National Employment Authority (NEA) where they forward their annual returns as per the law.

Ms Jepchirchir said 2,000 youth had registered for the World Cup jobs in Qatar but 780 managed to fly while 600 others cancelled their applications while the rest opted for a two-year programme.

“The more than 400 who opted to cancel their applications were refunded their money, and we have evidence for this. We were not intending to fleece anybody. The youth and their parents were incited against us even before we completed the exercise which prevented us from meeting our objective,” said Ms Jepchirchir.

This comes as most of the complainants who spoke to People Daily claimed that they parted with a lump sum of between Sh40,000 to Sh200,000.

The disgruntled youth last week took to the streets in Eldoret demanding the refund of their money running into millions.

The youth demanded that a Cabinet Secretary, a prominent Rift Valley businessman and a Uasin-Gishu County politician who attended the launch of the purported programme last year shed light on what they know about the scam.

“The leaders were present during the launch of the organization in Eldoret and we have every reason to believe that they know something about scam which has fleeced us millions of our hard-earned money,” said   Pauline Ambaka, one of the affected.

Ms Jepchirchir was yesterday hard-pressed to explain why the organization’s receipts issued to the youth lacked stamps as is the norm.

The official said some of the youths were barred from traveling to the gulf country as they failed medical tests while others were not qualified for the positions they were seeking.

Human Rights groups in the North Rift led by Kimutai Kirui of the Center Against Torture   have faulted the recruitment agency for taking money from prospective youth before conducting interviews to establish whether they qualify or not.

 “Why not interview first with a non-refundable fee then successful applicants who meet terms and conditions-medica inclusive pay full amount?.This is why a policy framework or legal parameters on how these agencies are run should be put in place,” said Mr Kirui.

It also emerged that some of the youth obtained loans while others sold property to raise the money with the hope of securing the elusive jobs.

“We had many hopes of securing greener pastures so that we can support our families but we have been left hopeless. We will continue demonstrating in Eldoret streets until our plight is addressed,” said Kelvin Koech another job seeker.

Another complainant, Kennedy Kipchumba claimed that he gave out Sh200,000 to the firm but it has remained a pipe dream for him to secure the coveted job in Poland as promised.

“My father is a teacher who took loans to raise the money and we have been trying to get it back in vain. We were also subjected to medical tests which we also paid a lot of money,” said Mr Kipchumba.

Another victim Cheruiyot Yegon from Uasin-Gishu County said that he paid Sh80,000 for himself and his wife but the job offer has not been forthcoming.

The youth have accused the recruitment agency which has since closed its City Plaza offices in Eldoret Central Business District (CBD) of holding their documents, including passports and academic certificates.