Senators want fees for jobseekers scrapped

Senators want the government to scrap various clearance fees, which are prerequisite for one to be recruited by public bodies, arguing that the fees are discriminative to jobseekers.

The legislators unanimously supported a petition which calls for scrapping of the documents whose issuance attract a fee of not less that Sh1,000 each.

Nominated Senator Isaac Mwaura tabled the petition on behalf of the Kenyan youth.

GOOD CONDUCT

The documents the youths want scrapped are certificate of good conduct and clearances from the Credit Reference Bureau, Ethics and Anti-corruption Commission, Kenya Revenue Authority and the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB), which cumulatively cost up to Sh6,000 to acquire.

“Majority of the youth seeking jobs cannot afford these costs especially during the transition from college to the job market,” Mr Mwaura said.

CLEARANCES

The petition was supported by most senators who said the government must do away with the clearances as they amount to criminalising job seeking where one is required to get a certificate of good conduct from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations.

Nominated Senator Mary Seneta said the requirements are overburdening parents who have already paid huge amounts of fees.

BOTTLENECKS

Senator Christopher Langat (Bomet) argued that the youth are already facing enough obstacles and therefore there no need to impose more.

“We are sitting on a time bomb; our youth are very frustrated and when you add such bottlenecks, it hurts them more,” he said.

Mr Johnson Sakaja (Nairobi) said the levies imposed is evidence that of the government’s apathetic approach to issues affecting the youth.