MPs to review bid to scrap police clearance for jobs

Jobseekers in Nairobi. FILE PHOTO | NMG

Parliament will review the requirement on job seekers to present the Sh1,000 certificate of good conduct in a move aimed at reducing the hurdles bedevilling the unemployment status of thousands of Kenyans.

Speaker of the National Assembly Justin Muturi directed the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee to evaluate a petition that seeks to abolish the demand for the certificate issued by the Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI).

Residents from Murang’a County petitioned the House to remove the requirement of the police clearance certificate, saying that it infringes on their constitutional rights to privacy since it exposes the job seeker’s past criminal records.

“The [Justice and Legal Affairs] Committee is requested to consider the petition and report its findings to the House and to the petitioners in accordance with Standing Order 227(2),” Speaker Muturi said on Wednesday.

Employers require job seekers to present a certificate of good conduct to show whether the applicant has a criminal record or not. In cases of an existing or past crime, the details are captured in the certificate, a move that hurts the chances of getting the job.

While the clearance is not provided for in law, employers have made it compulsory, adding to the financial cost of securing employment.

The petitioners argue that the requirement is unfair since the job seeker might have committed an offence as an ignorant minor or may have been wrongly convicted and jailed for offences never committed.

Graduates are also required to provide the Higher Education Loans Board (Helb) clearance certificate — whether they received the loans or not. The certificate was going for Sh1,000 but the fee was recently scrapped.