Mutua denies links with Judy Jepchirchir, the job agency owner accused of fraud

Appearing in parliament for vetting, Mutua denied personally knowing Jepchirchir, clarifying that he ever met her once at KICC and introduced her to President William Ruto. 

Mutua was tasked by Deputy Speaker Gladys Boss to explain his relationship with Jepchirchir, who has been at the centre of scamming claims by hundreds of Uasin Gishu residents.

"I don't know Jepchirchir personally. I only met her once at KICC when I served as Foreign Affairs CS. Her stand was close to that of the Labour ministry and someone told me what she was doing to create jobs. That is how I introduced her to President Ruto then. But I don't know her and I have never met her again. Later on, I saw in the media what was happening," Mutua defended himself. 

Jepchirchir came to the limelight in 2023 when youthful jobseekers from Eldoret took to the streets to demand a refund of the money they had paid to her agency, First Choice Recruitment agency, to help them secure jobs abroad.

The agency had allegedly promised them six-month contract jobs in Qatar during the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

They said they paid millions of shillings to the company to secure placement for various job opportunities overseas only for them to be taken around in circles.

Over 1,000 applicants are said to have paid for placement into the Qatar jobs. Jepchirchir was labelled ‘untouchable’ after failing to honour summons by the Senate three times.

Jepchirchir denied defrauding the youth, arguing that her company has deployed more than 7000 Kenyans to various companies abroad in its four years of operation.