For years there have been a public outcry by Kenyan domestic workers in Saudi Arabia owing to mistreatment.
But this is now a thing of the past since the Kenyan and Saudi Arabia governments signed an agreement to streamline the sector.
The agreement was signed in 2017 to end the mistreatment of domestic workers working in the Middle East country.
Recruitment agencies in Kenya have had to comply with the new guidelines to ensure no Kenyan is suffers while working in Saudi Arabia.
Daawo Holdings Limited a registered recruitment agencies is among over 100 agencies that have complied with the new laws, rules and regulations.
“We thank the two governments for signing the agreement that has led to smooth, proper and streamlined operations in this sector. In the past we had unscrupulous agents who ‘destroyed’ it,” said Ali Mohamed, Director Daawo Holdings Limited.
“Daawo is one of the leading and legally registered recruitment agencies that always observe the new rules to ensure no suffering and the sector serves to the best of each party.”
He affirmed that as an agency they first have to get the consent of the candidate by signing a contract with her after she has produced her legal documents including birth certificate and identity card.
He said after signing the contract, the candidate is taken to a learning institution where they are trained on various skills and also prepare them psychologically as they are going to work in a new environment.
“We take them to the National Employment Authority to verify their documents and give them approvals. We also subject them to a system that controls who should go or not according to the agreement signed between Kenya and Saudi Arabia,” he said.
From the National Employment Authority, the candidate is taken to the embassy to get a visa for traveling.
“We process passport and other travel documents for them. Since Daawo was recruited as a recruitment agency I have not heard of any complaints over mistreatment,” Mohamed said.
He noted that Daawo Holdings Limited makes follow up with all candidates and their employers to ensure none of them suffers while in Middle East.
“We do follow up on them, we communicate almost daily and none of them has complained of mistreatment,”
He said: “We have a database for all for all our workers, we keep their records and in case of anything we are ready to communicate with the employers and government to ensure everything is sorted.”
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