A recent raid on the offices of Amble Beginning Consult Limited in Nairobi exposed what looked like a genuine plan by the firm to find Kenyans jobs abroad. But as the days go by, and with no light at the end of the tunnel, the applicants are reading mischief.
On February 1, 2023, everything was normal at Amble Beginning's offices located on the ninth floor of Fourth Avenue Towers.
Four employees of the company were going about their daily business when a lady identified as Ms Sheila Kavaya, walked in and left with them. She claimed that she had arrested them.
The four were; Mr Dedan Mureithi, Ms Beatrice Nzioka, Ms Rose Njeri and Ms Martha Wangui.
Their boss,Mr Alphonce Kioko, accused the lady of being fond of demanding bribes. However, the lady, an officer, claimed she was seeking a refund of money paid by the frustrated jobseekers.
Mr Kioko showed the Nation M-Pesa messages of money totalling Sh565,000. He claimed the money was a bribe.
But Ms Kavaya denied the allegation. She said the money was a refund after one of Mr Kioko’s clients raised the alarm.
"That money was supposed to be a refund, and Mr Kioko knows that very well. I even have a document to prove,” said Ms Kavaya.
Mr Jimmy Sausi of Ochoki and Ochoki Advocates, who spoke on behalf of the company, said Ms Kavaya became bitter after Mr Kioko refused to give her more money. He said she threatened to frustrate the deal.
"She demanded bribes from my client, and when she did not get what she wanted, she became hostile and locked the office," the lawyer said.
However, Ms Kavaya said she had taken 35 people to Mr Kioko with the promise of getting jobs, abroad, but they are yet to travel.
From February 1 to 18, when the offices were reopened, a number of clients were shocked when their phone calls went unanswered by officials of Amble Beginning.
Out of disappointment, they decided to open a WhatsApp group.
The Nation spoke to some of the victims, and they narrated how they were lured into the fraudulent web. Some have lost hope of ever getting their money back.
In 2022, one of them we will call Mr EK saw an advertisement on social media for jobs abroad. Without thinking twice, he applied for his younger brother.
"I decided to connect my brother to the company so that he can go to the United Kingdom, and then I join him later," said Mr EK.
The advert promised jobs for caregivers, London Tours Adventures, vacancies in the British military, scholarships and student visa applications.
In Australia, the company said it would help one get a student visa easily. In Finland, some of the openings were in the field of financial management and ICT, construction, building services and ICT, hospitality and trade services. In Canada, they said that they would assist one to get a visit visa, student visa, business visa and skilled worker visa. In Saudi Arabia there were offers for nurses and in the United States, teaching jobs.
At that time, Mr Kioko had an office along Tom Mboya Street called Frac and Calp.
In December 2022, Mr EK paid the required Sh200,000 for his younger brother. But two years later, nothing had happened. After a lot of back and forth, and even “receiving a letter of a HR officer”, they realised Mr Kioko had moved from Tom Mboya Street and he had changed the firm’s name from Frac and Calp to Amble Beginning.
Mr EK said Mr Kioko approached him to become an agency and would give him Sh50,000 for every client he brought. But he never got the cash despite bring in Sh600,000. Another client of Ms AO has a similar case.
Thirty-two people say they lost their money.
The Nation found the matter was reported at Capitol Hill Police Station. The case book number is 33/12/02/24. Other cases were reported at Central Police Station. However, the victims have not recorded statements but the police promised to call them.
