Labour Cabinet Secretary nominee Alfred Mutua on Sunday denied having a personal friendship with Judy Jepchirchir, the director of the controversial First Choice Recruitment agency, which has been accused of scamming millions from Eldoret residents.
During his vetting in parliament, Mutua clarified that he only met Jepchirchir once at the KICC, where he introduced her to President William Ruto. Deputy Speaker Gladys Boss tasked Mutua with explaining his relationship with Jepchirchir, who has been at the center of fraud allegations made by hundreds of Uasin Gishu residents.
“I don’t know Jepchirchir personally. I only met her once at KICC when I served as Foreign Affairs CS. Her stand was close to that of the Labour ministry and someone told me what she was doing to create jobs. That is how I introduced her to President Ruto then. But I don’t know her and I have never met her again. Later on, I saw in the media what was happening,” Mutua defended himself.
Judy Jepchirchir came into the limelight in 2023 when young jobseekers from Eldoret protested to demand refunds from her agency, First Choice Recruitment, which had allegedly scammed them. The agency had promised them six-month contract jobs in Qatar during the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
The jobseekers claimed they paid millions of shillings to the company for various overseas job placements, only to be met with empty promises and delays. Over 1,000 applicants reportedly paid for the Qatar job placements. Jepchirchir was labeled “untouchable” after failing to honor Senate summons three times.
In her defense, Jepchirchir denied defrauding the youth, stating that her company had successfully deployed over 7,000 Kenyans to various companies abroad during its four years of operation.
