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Kenya to step up law enforcement to curb human trafficking

Xinhua, August 23, 2016 Adjust font size:

Kenya plans to step up enforcement of rules and regulations that govern the human resource profession in order to curb human trafficking, the industry regulator said Tuesday.

The National Chairman of the Institute of Human Resource Management (IHRM), Elijah Sitimah, told a media briefing in Nairobi that bogus recruitment agencies were illegally exporting Kenyans for exploitation.

"We will ensure that all human resources firms are duly registered and adhere to a professional code of conduct," Sitimah said during the launch of the IHRM website.

The online platform will provide a facility for Kenyans to confirm whether a human resource practitioner is registered or not.

Sitimah said that unscrupulous business people had set up recruitment agencies in order to cash in on the high unemployment rate.

"They lure unemployed people with jobs in foreign countries that don't exist. As a result, we have witnessed increased cases where Kenyans working abroad are mistreated by their employers because they don't ensure employment contracts to safeguard the interest of workers," Sitimah said.

According to IHRM, Kenya has approximately 20,000 human resources professionals while only 5,000 are registered.

"All human resources personnel and firms are required to registered by January 2017 or risk being barred from practicing the profession," Sitimah said.

Set up in 2012, IHRM is conducting an audit to establish all those practitioners and employers who have not complied with the law.

"All firms should ensure that they hire only registered human resource professionals in order to comply with the labor laws," Sitimah said. Endit