CS Mutua Orders Probe Into Illegal Job Recruitment By Travel Companies

Labour Cabinet Secretary Alfred Mutua has directed the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to investigate travel agencies suspected of operating as illegal job recruitment firms. This comes after a wave of complaints from Kenyans who say they were conned while seeking employment abroad.

In a statement on Friday, July 18, Mutua said that out of 62 companies flagged in official complaints, most were travel agencies acting outside their legal mandate. He emphasized that these companies are not licensed to recruit for jobs.

“Travel agencies are NOT licensed to conduct labour recruitment. It is illegal for them to do so without proper accreditation from the Ministry of Labour through the National Employment Authority (NEA),” said Mutua.

𝐂𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐊𝐃𝐎𝐖𝐍 𝐎𝐍 𝐑𝐎𝐆𝐔𝐄 𝐀𝐆𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐒 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐆𝐀𝐋 𝐋𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐌𝐎𝐁𝐈𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐘 𝐏𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐄𝐒

𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐬

Following the ongoing crackdown on fraudulent recruitment agencies… pic.twitter.com/lq0UJi0jNR

— Dr. Alfred N. Mutua (@DrAlfredMutua) July 18, 2025

He has now ordered the named companies to report to the DCI at the Multi-Agency Taskforce Office in the NSSF Building by Monday, July 21, at 2 pm. They are also required to surrender any passports belonging to affected individuals.

The ministry has received 84 formal complaints from victims across 15 counties. The total amount of money lost stands at Sh17.3 million. Many of the victims said their passports were taken and held for over a year.

“Worryingly, many of the complainants report that their passports have been unlawfully withheld for over a year, effectively denying them both opportunity and dignity,” Mutua said.

He revealed that most of the companies involved were unregistered, unlicensed, or had failed to comply with labour and tax regulations. Some had already been deregistered.

To address the issue, Mutua said his ministry had forwarded reviewed cases to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) for legal action. He warned that arrests and prosecutions will begin immediately.

The Cabinet Secretary also encouraged Kenyans who have fallen victim to job scams to report in person at the NSSF Building, Monday to Friday, from 9 am to 1 pm, and to bring all documents that support their claims.