Officials charged with spreading awareness on the Kenya-Germany labour deal are already fighting off fraudsters using news of the arrangement to con vulnerable jobseekers.
Today (Friday), the first potential Kenyan employees under the arrangement will meet their prospective German employers for an assessment. But officials said they were aware of fraudsters circulating parallel but false information about job offers, at a fee.
Germany’s Deputy Head of Mission in Kenya, Mr Alexander Fierley, told the Nation that the Embassy is battling troves of misinformation regarding the agreement between Nairobi and Berlin.
“I want to be very clear that there is no payment to be made by any applicant for a job opportunity in Germany. Our laws are very clear: other than payment for visa and learning the German language which are paid for by the candidate, every other thing, including training and accommodation in Germany, should be catered for by the employer,” he said.
The Friday session between potential employers and employees, he said, is free for all those invited.
But German officials say they've noted that some Kenyans are still suspicious of the free offer, and were still asking how to pay and be assured of a job.
Bruno Backes, the Head of Vocational Training at the Delegation of German Industry and Commerce for Eastern Africa, said some applicants appeared hesitant to proceed when told the opening was free.
“Many times, candidates hesitate when told that they do not have to pay a dime to get employed,” he noted.
“There is a lot of scepticism and this is what we are finding quite odd...because that is how things should be,” he said.
The first batch under the deal will have 1,500 young Kenyans, Mr Fierley indicated, and will hold exchanges with German entities at the Sarit Centre in Nairobi.
According to the embassy, the conference will bring at least 100 recruitment agencies who will be scouting for talent for German companies and initiate hiring processes for qualified candidates to get to their new work stations smoothly.
However, this specific conference will be limited to the candidates who were competitively selected after passing requirements such as proficiency in the German language and requisite skills needed for them to work, study and potentially settle in Germany.
Germany has published guidelines for those interested in working in Germany at www.make-it-in-germany.com. The Embassy says it will also hold regular workshops to help applicants get the correct information on available opportunities.
However, the German Mission clarified that getting a job offer does not automatically rule out the usual process of getting a visa, which requires rigorous vetting to ascertain a person’s suitability to settle in Germany. Still, applicants will have to settle their visa fees.
Whereas the focus is largely on job opportunities, Amb Fierley said the agreement also provides opportunities for education at Germany’s leading Technical and Vocational Training and Education (TVET) institutes.
This arrangement will, however, be conducted by the employers who will pay for the education costs, provide accommodation and after three years, offer full employment to students.
With a population whose average age is 45 years, Mr Backes said Germany’s labour market needs approximately 400,000 skilled workers from abroad, and is particularly keen on recruiting people to fill the gap created by the aging workforce.
The most sought-after skills are in the nursing, mechanics, logistics and hospitality sectors.
Initially, when the deal was signed, numbers of those who will get jobs became controversial after President Ruto indicated that 250,000 Kenyans will be employed in Germany. However, Berlin contradicted this, saying the pact did not state the exact number of skilled Kenyans who would be allowed into the country.
After a flurry of corrections, the Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs later said there was no specific number to be hired, taking cue from the refutations in Berlin.
