Judy Jepchirchir: Embattled First Choice Boss Ejected From Senate Committee After Claiming They're Biased

• Judy Jepchirchir finally honoured the summon of the Senate standing committee on Labour and Social Welfare
• Her firm, First Choice Recruitment and Consultancy is at the centre of a multi-million scandal in which desperate jobseekers parted with monies for dubious job promises
• Judy had snubbed previous summons by the committee which had set base in Eldoret to listen to the victims' plaints

The director of the infamous First Choice Recruitment and Consultancy Agency Judy Chepchirchir was sent out of the Senate committee on Labour and Social Welfare after she declined to take back her recent remarks regarding the committee members.

While appearing before the committee, Judy, who was in the company of her legal team, was put to task over a letter she addressed to the committee accusing its members of bias.

The entrepreneur had accused the lawmakers of siding with the victims.

She was asked to rescind the contents of the letter but declined, and the committee sent her and her team out.

"If the respondent doesn't want to apologise we throw them out and we proceed with our meeting, the committee retreats and then write the report, it is that simple," said Senator Samson Cherargei of Nandi

Judy had reportedly snubbed previous summons by the Upper House of the Senate.

First Choice Recruitment scandal

The Eldoret-based agency is accused of fleecing Kenyans with dubious promises of securing them jobs overseas.

It came to the limelight late last year after it failed to fly over 1,000 job hopefuls to Qatar, where they were to take up short-term jobs in the course of the World Cup.

The victims of the 'fraud' had paid all the fees and charges, and all that was left was for the agency to fly them to the West Asian country.

Following numerous plaints, the Senate summoned her to shed light on the matter.

The committee recently camped in Eldoret to listen to the plight of the victims.

One of the supposed fraud's victims recently shared his painful account of how he resigned from a well-paying job and bought suits on the promise that he would go to Qatar.

"I resigned from my well-paying job because I had been promised a better job in Qatar and I did all I could to secure it," the victim told the Senate committee.

He revealed that he secured some KSh 20,000 from his sister to buy suits and prepare for his travel.

"I remember that we had lost our dairy cow and so we had no milk back at home. World Cup came and went but still we never travelled," he recounted.

The man also claimed that when he confronted Judy, she told him that then-deputy president William Ruto had cautioned her against taking young people abroad for purposes of voting in last year's election.

"Judy claimed that Ruto asked her who would vote for him should he take all the youth abroad but I told her that we could still vote in the diaspora," he added.

Judy, in her defence, claimed in a recent interview that she was being targeted by envious politicians from Rift Valley, who she claimed are fueling her woes.

Judy the "untouchable"

Kenyans wondered why Judy was not being confronted despite the scandal hovering on her neck.

Some quarters on Twitter pointed to her powerful circles as why she is not being held to account as Uasin Gishu residents cry foul after losing money to her firm.

She is believed to be hobnobbing with the who is who both at grassroots and national levels, and this shields her, they say.