Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Principal Secretary Susan Mang’eni was taken to task by MPs to explain why the department requires an additional Sh450 million to finance youths seeking jobs abroad at a time when the initiative has been dogged by controversies.

Mang’eni, who appeared before the National Assembly’s departmental Committee on Trade, Industry and Cooperatives to defend her department’s budget, had a hard time convincing MPs to approve the money being channelled to the Uwezo Fund and the Wezesha Kazi Majuu programme that is supporting the youth’s travel abroad whenever they secure jobs was well used.

Trouble started after she disclosed that the money will be spent to pay for visas and airfare as well as provide a stipend for those who secure jobs abroad.

According to her, the government is spending between Sh140,000 to Sh165,000, inclusive of the eight per cent processing fees.

Successful applicants

She said, “Uwezo fund, Wezesha Kazi Majuu came from young Kenyans. When the Ministry of Labour teamed up with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, that is when we came in and our role on this initiative was on the financing part. This is a loan and will be repaid back.”

Already, she said that the department has disbursed Sh38.7 million to facilitate about 250 successful applicants in its inaugural Wezesha Kazi Majuu programme.

The applicants were supported with airfare, Visa and other attendant logistics to facilitate their labour mobility

 She said, “Further, Uwezo Fund has re-engineered its financing model to provide for diversified financial products targeting low hanging fruits within the high growth sectors of the economy, including agricultural value chains, labour mobility, start-ups, affordable housing etc. We have already disbursed a total of Sh38.7 million to facilitate about 250 successful applicants. The Fund has also widened its scope to include vulnerable adult men.”

In her submission, she said that they have come up with a tripartite agreement between the Ministry of Labour, which is mandated to look for jobs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which is supposed to provide consular service and verify the jobs and her department which is financier to ensure that once the said applicants secure jobs they repay the said monies lent to then.

She said, “This is a tripartite agreement. What we have done is to pilot the exercise, which we did because of the hue and cry we received.”

The move comes hardly two weeks after nominated Senator Gloria Orwoba called for the dismissal of Labour and Social Protection Cabinet Secretary Alfred Mutua, accusing him of incompetence and failure to protect Kenyans from fraudulent diaspora job schemes.