Kenyans seeking employment abroad have continued to share painful experiences of exploitation and deceit by local recruitment agencies, prompting tough questions from the Senate Labour and Social Welfare Committee during a heated session in Nairobi.

The committee, chaired by nominated Senator Crystal Asige (vice chairperson), took several recruitment agencies to task over delayed deployments, unprocessed refunds, and operations in countries with no formal labour agreements with Kenya.

The National Employment Authority (NEA) was also faulted for failing to act on repeated complaints, especially by not deregistering firms found to be fraudulent.

Many of the affected job seekers had applied for jobs in Saudi Arabia and Qatar, but nearly a year later, some are still waiting for visas. Others said their applications were cancelled without refund, with agencies either going silent or refusing to take responsibility.

Belinda Ouma is one such victim. She told the committee that in 2023, she paid Sh100,000 to Vintmak Recruitment Agency but has neither travelled nor received her money back.

“Before they could process my documents, I was told to deposit Sh100,000, which I did. I have waited for over eight months, but nothing has happened. When I went back to demand a refund, the officials vanished,” she said.

In another case, Alex Ogutu, who applied for a job in Qatar through Global Face Recruitment Agency in Mombasa, is still chasing a Sh56,000 refund.

Speaking through a representative, Ogutu said he was later informed he was over the age limit for the job, despite the agency having accepted his application and money.

“Alex paid Sh56,000 for processing and was later told he couldn’t travel because of his age. But why didn’t they flag this issue at the beginning during payment and documentation? We’ve been following up since February with no results,” the representative said.

His case triggered sharp criticism from senators Stewart Madzayo (Kilifi), Miraj Abdullahi (nominated), and Beth Syengo (nominated), who insisted that the agency take immediate action.

“If the officials of Face Global are present, they must commit to refunding not just Alex’s money, but also that of other victims who are not here today,” Madzayo demanded.

In response, Festus Omwamba, director of Global Face Human Resource Limited, confirmed that Ogutu had indeed paid Sh56,000 and assured the committee that the money would be refunded. He also defended the agency’s broader operations.

“We have consistently sent job seekers abroad. Currently, only 26 clients are pending refunds. We undertake to refund Alex and the rest within one month,” Omwamba said.

Senator Asige directed that Ogutu’s refund be processed without delay and instructed the agency to submit a complete list of all clients it had handled, showing payments made, refunds processed, and those still pending.

“Face Global must submit the names of all job seekers they dealt with, indicating payments and refunds. They must also give a clear timeline for completing all pending refunds,” she said.

The session also uncovered further concerns when Nasra Ibrahim, director of Mallow Smarthighers Limited, admitted to deploying workers to Iraq despite the absence of a Bilateral Labour Agreement (BLA) between Kenya and Iraq.

This revelation came after Francis Muchoki, a jobseeker from Murang’a, testified that he had applied for work in Qatar but was instead told he would be sent to Iraq under unclear arrangements.

The committee’s grilling of both government officials and recruitment agencies highlighted the urgent need for better regulation of the overseas employment sector to protect desperate Kenyans from fraud and mistreatment.