Special Investigative Report By Leo Odera Omolo.
As many as close to 250 expatriate workers from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh could be illegally engaged on full time jobs inside several su on work permits which are suspected t have been issued irregularly for sugar mills in Western Kenya.
Impeccable multiple sources have told this writer that a source of recruitment of these unqualified foreign workers is a Hindu Temple located n the lakeside City of Kisumu. And that for these foreigners to access cheap jobs in Kenya, they are being made to allegedly part with colossal amount of money in bribery and kick-backs, which is paid out through an unnamed Hindu Priest who is allegedly acting as a conduit.
Transactions take place in highly secret hideouts, mostly inside hotel rooms at one of the city’s posh hotels or inside the temple.
Al this happens while hundreds of artisans of better qualified Kenyans are jobless. Kenya has trained hundreds of thousands of artisans and technicians ever since independence 48 years ago, and it is therefore shameless of the country to recruit and engaged this same illiterate Indians and Pakistanis.
The natural and common rule is that the county could only source and engage an expatriate worker in a specific case where there is no qualified Kenyan to fill the gap.
But what is happening in the sugar industry is a big same to the Kenyan nation. These unqualified foreign workers are being recruited through established agencies in India, Pakstan and Bangladesh.
Do we Kenyans need them really? The answer is a Big No. We have trained the sufficient number of highly skilled personnel who are better qualified to handle these jobs.
A common saying is that the “Sugar industry is a milking cow” and it is true to those who coined those words, the specification of jobs in which these foreigners are engaged could as well be competently and efficiently performed by local Form Four school leavers.
The practicalists said to be so common in the sugar mills owned by Asian investors. The management of these sugar mills are said to be working in cohort with some unscrupulous and nepatistic highly placed government officials and politicians, mainly in the Ministry of Immigration and Registration of Persons, which is charged with the sole responsibility of issuing work permits to foreigners in whatever categories
Truly speaking Kenya is not short of qualified welders, and fitters nor is the country experiencing acute shortage of artisans and office clerks?
Is the Kenya government applying double standard by telling the ordinary Kenyans that it was committed to creating hundreds of jobs for the youths annually, and on one hand issuing the work permits to people who do not deserve it?
The scam Is said to have spilled into our neighboring courtiers of Uganda and Tanzania. Indians, Pakisanis and Bangladeshis allegedly recruited in Kisumu are said to have flooded the jobs market inside Uganda sugar mills at Kanyira, Lugazi and Kakira and to an extent Kagera Sugar Works in South Western Tanzania.
One may be left to wonder why has the government has succumbed to pressure from the investors and allow them to import their unqualified kiths and kins from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh while our better qualified sons and daughters have remained permanently unemployed while the unemployment situation has been skyrocketing.
If the management sources these foreign workers to serve as experts in machinery installations in the factories, they should be ordered to leave the country as soon as their missions are accomplished.
The Sugar mills in Western Kenya where the imported unqualified expatriates are alleged to have infiltrated include West Kenya Suga Company, Butalii Sugar Company, Kibos Sugar and Allied Industries Limited, Sukari Industries in Ndhiwa in Homa By County. The fifth is the newly and recently established Trans-MaraSugar Company wihin Trans-Mara within the Nrok County where the company has engaged close to 28 expatriaes, and the figure could be s much higher than those mentioned above.
It defeats all the logic that Mumias Sugar Company in Mumias which is producing the largest quantity of brown sugar per day with close to 7,000 bags of made sugar per day is managed and manned by local Kenyans.
Bu that local Kenyans workers employed in the Asian owned sugar mills are just working as casual for peanuts and no letters of appointment ad from the top to office messengers and sweepers. Why should our government allow Asian owned sugar mills which are not even producing half of what Mumias is producing should be allowed to fill all the jobs in their establishment with foreign workers.?.
The other aspect of this shameful double standard policy by the Kenya government is that local Kenans workers employed in the Asian owned sugar mills which are not even producing half of hat Mumias Sugar is producing should be allowed to fill all the jobs in their establishment with foreign works.
The other aspect of this shameful double standard policy by the Kenya government is that local Kenyans workers employed in the Asian owned sugar mills are jus working as casuals and no letters of appointment with no workmen and health protection schemes.
Between Francis Atwoli ,the COTU {Kenya} Secretary General who doubles as the General Secretary of the Kenya Agricultural and Plantation Workers Union and the Immigration and Registrations Minister Gerald Otieno Kajwang’ who is sleeping on the job? I think the two senior Kenyans owed an explanation to the public over the issue o foreign workers.
Reached for his comments the Secretary General of the Kenya Union of Sugar Plantaon Workers Francis Wagara disagreed with this writer and categorically denied that Atwoli seemed to have been compromised.
Wagaa, however, declined to use more question why African workers in the sugar industry were being enslaved in modern Kenya and being discriminated the row motherland where they are paid only peanuts for the jobs done equal what he Asian were dong.
In the Sugar Mills the highest paid African workers ear between Kshs 12,000 and Kshs 20,000 but most of those working in the categories of clerks, store me ae within the Kshs 7,000 and Kshs 8,000 brackets. But most of them without letter of appointment specifying conditions and terms of services.
In one sugar mill, which close to Kisumu City even a cook who is making meals earn between Kshs 12,000 and Kshs 20,000 but most of those working in the categories of clerks, store men are within kshs 7,000 and Kshs 8,000 brackets.
In the same sugar mill which is close to Kisumu City a cook who is making meals for the expatriate India woekers is himself an expatriate blowing over Kshs 40,000. Surely is there a room for experienced cooks?
What has gone wrong with our outspoken parliamentarians? Has the John Mututho Parliametary Seet Committee on Agriculture visited some of these sugar mills and inquired about employment system?
Why has Dr Bonny Khalwale buried his head in the sand and yet some of those things happens within his home turf of Kakamega County?
The majority of MPs, especially those representing constituencies close o the sugar cane growing zones in both Nyanza and Western appeared o have been compromised and are aid to e the regular visitors ad callers to the dwelling houses of the very notorious Asian owners of sugar mills who are known to exploit fellow African workers to the maximum and as such can articulate anything like issues to do with the African workers plight. What is this? Is it not a total let down on the part of MPs.
Some of the MPs including cabinet Ministers have been seen quite often being picked up by sleek fuel guzzling four wheel drive cars owned by the same Asian tycoon a the Kisumu airport and being driven to unknown destination, perhaps while in search of handouts.
Ends