Detectives have arrested two men in Mombasa for allegedly running an unlicensed overseas job recruitment agency.
In a statement on Tuesday, August 26, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) said operation was conducted by officers from the Transnational Organised Crime Unit (TOCU) and Mombasa Central Police Station.
"Detectives from the Transnational Organised Crime Unit (TOCU), together with officers from Mombasa Central Police Station, have arrested two suspects operating an overseas job recruitment agency without a valid licence," the statement read.
According to the DCI, the operation was carried out in the Makadara area, where the agency was found operating from a residential building.
"Acting on actionable intelligence, the team raided a premises in Makadara area, where Al-Wajib Investments Ltd was found running its business from a residential building. Two directors of the agency, Bilal Dundo Nyanje and Ali Abu Bakari, were promptly apprehended," the statement added.
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During the raid, DCI noted that detectives recovered documents and materials linked to the operations.
"A swift search of the office yielded an expired National Employment Authority (NEA) registration certificate, two registers, a receipt book, and the agency’s official stamp, all of which were seized as exhibits," the statement further read.
As such, the National Police Service (NPS) urged job seekers to be vigilant when seeking employment opportunities abroad.
"The National Police Service (NPS) urges members of the public seeking employment opportunities abroad to verify recruitment agencies through the National Employment Authority (NEA). Only agencies duly accredited by NEA are legally authorised to carry out recruitment for overseas jobs," the statement concluded.
The suspects are being held in custody and are expected to be arraigned in court once investigations are concluded.
This comes over a month after Labour Cabinet Secretary Alfred Mutua announced the establishment of a multi-agency taskforce to crack down on recruitment agencies involved in the exploitation of desperate job seekers.
In a statement on Tuesday, July 15, Mutua said the decision followed a high-level intergovernmental meeting held over the issue.
"Today, I convened a high-level meeting with key government institutions to address the growing menace of rogue individuals and agencies preying on innocent Kenyans desperate for job opportunities abroad.
"We are deeply concerned by the rising number of cases where unscrupulous individuals have been masquerading as licensed recruitment agents, defrauding our people under the false promise of overseas employment, only to disappear with their hard-earned money and shatter their dreams," the statement read.
According to Mutua, the taskforce would be mandated to investigate fraudulent recruitment agencies and prosecute the culprits.
"We deliberated on coordinated strategies to decisively deal with this criminal enterprise that is undermining the gains we have made in expanding safe and legal labour migration opportunities for Kenyan youth.
"As a result, we have agreed to establish a Multi-Agency Taskforce to investigate and prosecute these fraudulent actors swiftly and thoroughly," the statement added.
The team includes the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection, the Office of the Attorney General, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP).
The Asset Recovery Agency, the Financial Reporting Centre (FRC), the Directorate of Immigration and the State Department for Diaspora Affairs is also be part of the taskforce.
