Eldoret Protests Against Job Scam
Eldoret Protests Against Job Scam
Residents demand that the Senate Committee’s recommendations, which call for the agency to close and the return of victims’ funds, be implemented by the federal government.
Judy Chepchirchir, a businesswoman, is accused of running First Choice Recruitment Agency, which is involved in a fraudulent hiring operation. Allegations have been made that victims were tricked into paying money under the guise of finding work overseas.
Residents took to the streets to protest, claiming that the company’s directors had created two new organizations under other names and were carrying on business as usual, in spite of a Senate Committee’s recommendation that the agency be closed down and victims be reimbursed of their money.
Consequently, the inhabitants said that they will not give in until their requests are fulfilled.”People’s sorrow is genuine. We will not be afraid of anyone. One of the demonstrators, Kelvin Koech, stated, “If action is not taken, we have one language, that is demonstrations, and we need our money back.” Additionally, the locals want the government to look into the recruitment firms that operate in the area and are allegedly still defrauding locals.
During the protests, Kimutai Kirui, one of the demonstrators, said, “We want DCI to investigate. Here in Uasin Gishu, here in Eldoret town, there are a lot of job scam agencies, claiming to connect workers with jobs abroad, demanding between Ksh 200,000 and Ksh 700,000, yet they never take anybody there.”The locals also want investigations conducted into the role of two cabinet secretaries and other prominent politicians in the issue.
The protests took place the day after Simon Chelugui, the cabinet secretary for cooperatives and MSMEs, distanced himself from the situation and insisted that he had no connection to the business, despite extensive journalistic coverage to the contrary.
“I have always conducted myself with a high level of professionalism; honour and dignity while discharging my duties at all times,” he said. I thus implore Kenyans to treat these dishonest reports with the disdain they merit.
Finally, I deserve an equal amount of visibility and an unwavering apology.” In response to rumors that he was the subject of an Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) and Senate investigation due to purported connections to the corporation, Chelugui released the statement.
