400 Youths Left stranded after false job promise fail
Over 400 job seekers
from Tigania West Constituenc in Meru County are stranded after they were
transported into the county with false promises of jobs at the Standard
Gauge Railway project.The youth, among them a woman, claimed Wednesday that they had been registered in Tigania West, where they paid Sh 1,300 to facilitate their transport from Meru to Voi in Taita-Taveta County. Speaking at Moi Stadium in Voi town, where they have camped for three days, the frustrated youth said they were divided into three groups and ferried in buses.
They said the first group arrived in the
region on Monday morning while the two other groups arrived on Tuesday. A
fourth group arrived Wednesday. Upon arrival, the hungry and distraught youth
failed to locate their agent at Voi stage, who had allegedly organized the
trip.
The stranded youths, who came with mattresses
and other belongings, later went to Voi Police Station for help and were
advised to try and locate the agent. Some of them claimed that they had sold
their personal property at home to raise the money for transport, only to be
duped by the suspected conman, who had taken advantage of their desperation.
Voi
Deputy OCPD Jonathan Muli confirmed that the group had sought help at the
police station. "The matter is being investigated. We are looking into the
possibility that the group had fallen prey to an elaborate con-game," said
the police officer, who warned Kenyans against contributing money to people
they do not know well.