Lawmakers have called on Labour Cabinet Secretary Alfred Mutua to provide a full list of vetted job recruitment agencies and roll out a national awareness campaign to protect Kenyans from being duped by fake agents, following rising concerns over irregularities in the government’s overseas jobs programme.

While appearing before the National Assembly Committee on Diaspora Affairs and Migrant Workers on Tuesday, Mutua was questioned over the apparent regional imbalance in a state-backed recruitment drive held between November and December 2024, which saw a large number of shortlisted candidates coming from Machakos, Makueni, and Kitui counties, his home region.

Kacheliba MP Titus Lotee challenged the CS to explain the skewed distribution, asking, “We demand to know why this exercise was conducted in your region dominantly. What is not happening?”

Mombasa Woman Representative Zamzam Mohammed echoed the concerns, questioning the selection criteria used to award job slots: “This number is very big, yet you are taking from one county. We also want to know the criteria that was used to give these young men jobs.”

In response, Mutua rejected allegations of favouritism and promised to present data showing the actual spread of successful applicants.

"It is very unfair to demonise one region. I can bring a report to this committee on how many people were given jobs and show how the Kamba community ni wachache walibenefit,” he said.

The committee was also alarmed by reports of rogue agencies preying on desperate job seekers, with several MPs faulting the ministry for not clearly guiding Kenyans on legitimate avenues for securing employment abroad.

“Have you gone out and told the people which agencies are conning them?” posed Lang’ata MP Phelix ‘Jalang’o’ Odiwuor. He later added, “You know we wonder why you are a lone ranger—and why you have refused to work with us. We have numbers—we can communicate these things on your behalf.”

Mutua acknowledged the weakness in outreach and information sharing, admitting, “I agree we have not done a good job communicating. But it is also the initiative of every Kenyan to do due diligence when applying for these jobs.”

Only 925 out of the 6,385 Kenyans who turned up for the interviews during the two-month recruitment drive received provisional job offers.

Some of the unsuccessful candidates have since reported being defrauded by impostor agencies posing as government partners.

Members of the Committee, chaired by Kwale Woman Representative Lydia Haika, demanded that the Ministry clarify how applicants were selected under the Kazi Majuu programme and how many fraudulent recruiters have been prosecuted so far.

MP Phelix Odiwuor asked if the Ministry had made public the names of accredited agencies, while Hon. Titus Lotee demanded to know the number of fake recruiters that had been taken to court.

MPs Ibrahim Saney and Doris Doya reminded the CS that the state has an obligation to shield its citizens from exploitation, even when dealing with private job placement firms.

Mutua informed the Committee that the National Employment Authority (NEA) is the designated legal channel for job applications and verification.

“The government has created a platform for people to apply. Kenyans need to do due diligence before paying, check with NEA and confirm if the job actually exists,” he said.

MP Zamzam Mohammed questioned why most successful candidates came from one county, while MP Charity Kathambi asked for a detailed report on the number of youth from Nakuru who had secured placements.

The CS again denied any regional bias and said a full breakdown of the successful applicants would be shared with the committee.

The committee has now directed the Labour Ministry to submit all relevant documents within two weeks, including a list of verified recruitment agencies, successful applicants by county, and updates on ongoing efforts to prosecute rogue agents.