By Mt Kenya Times Reporter
Kenya’s jobless youth were sold dreams of overseas employment, only to be abandoned in despair. The First Choice Agency scandal, which duped thousands with promises of placements abroad—including at the 2022 FIFA World Cup—has now triggered a reckoning. The Commission on Administrative Justice (CAJ) has called for urgent disciplinary action against four police officers and two National Employment Authority (NEA) officials, accusing them of negligence, intimidation, and outright failure to protect citizens.
Investigations revealed that officers at Eldoret Police Station ignored complaints between September and December 2022, while some allegedly shielded the agency’s director. Victims, many of whom paid up to Sh40,400—sometimes more than the official fees—were left stranded without jobs, education, or refunds. The Ombudsman’s report names senior officers, including former Turbo SCCIO, current Turbo Deputy SCCIO, and former Eldoret OCS, now redeployed elsewhere, alongside NEA’s Director-General and Labour Migration Director.
CAJ Chairperson Charles Dulo minced no words: “The findings reveal serious lapses in law enforcement and regulatory oversight. Decisive action is needed to protect vulnerable citizens and restore public confidence.” The Commission has directed the National Police Service Commission and the Labour ministry to act within six months, while also recommending blacklisting the agency and its director.
The scandal underscores systemic weaknesses. NEA failed to monitor private employment agencies, allowing fraudulent operations to thrive unchecked. The slow progress of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations’ Economic and Commercial Crimes Unit has only deepened public frustration. Dulo has urged the Attorney General to fast-track reforms under the Labour Migration and Management Bill to close loopholes, strengthen inspections, and impose tougher penalties.
This case is more than a story of fraud; it is a story of betrayal. Citizens trusted institutions meant to safeguard them, only to be failed at every turn. Unless accountability is enforced and reforms enacted, Kenya risks repeating this cycle of exploitation.
The victims of First Choice were robbed of money, dignity, and hope. The country must now decide whether to let impunity stand or to prove that justice can still be served. Delay is complicity; action is the only redemption.
Suleiman Mbatiah 
John Kariuki