Reference checks can makes characters – Should we make references mandatory for ALL sectors?

News & Politics
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What do you good people of Kenya think… reference character checks need to be made mandatory for both formal and informal sector? We make a nation whose people have a concept of values, what is right or wrong.

In this nation no one can hand over a business to another person including family members due to bad behaviour, why don’t we ensure a person’s conduct is checked throughout ones career. In most countries a person cannot do a two hour house cleaning job without a reference from at least the last two jobs.

People’s conduct and behaviour is the greatest killer of Businesses and Job creation. Too often, we hear a person starts a small business, employs someone or a few people to help run it, instead of being good custodians, they steal right and left destroying the initiative, these people move on elsewhere to repeat the same or try to set themselves up with the stolen assets.

When persons are caught in corruption incidents, there reference file need to be checked to see if there was an alert that was overlooked.

There is this person who build a nice house, an outdoor work space which was installed with quality solar panels for power; the place was equipped in preparation for a home business start-up. However, within a few weeks, the trusted person, tasked with the responsibility of caretaker sold everything, beds, TV, radio, tables, beddings, gas cooker, office equipment, solar panels etc apparently items worth ½ a million sold for less than fifty thousand, the solar panel worth fifty thousand each flogged off for KSh2 000, these people then disappear, the police cannot trace them or the items, such people move on to other places and regions to take up work.

Reference checks to cover the informal sectors; domestic workers, shop workers, market stall workers, hair saloon, drivers, touts, farm workers, etc. and formal sector, the office workers.

Lets see an Example - Mr Odhiambo employs a milk man, who regularly steals some of the milk and eggs to sell, when caught he is sacked. He travels a few miles away, finds work over at Mr Kibet’s, the quantity of his milk declines, twenty of his chicken are stolen, the worker has formed friendship with the neighbourhood idlers, he becomes the insider to Mr Kibet’s boma.
The worker does no wait to be caught, he voluntarily moves on and finds work across the county, at Mr Kamau’s farm, in a few months, two of his priced cows are stolen, Mrs Kamau notices her avocado trees are receiving a visitor, she cannot understand who and when her fruits are getting picked.
Good people; if Mr Kibet had obtained a reference from Mr Odhiambo the chain of events would be contained. Such workers would know their goose is cooked, change or go hungry.

An Employment legislation to ensuring that all references must be fair and accurate.

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I hear China has such a system where people are rewarded with social point based on their behavior including parenting skills it determines whether you get bank loans.

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Politics is the only sector where the CEO is employed without reference to his past performance. The interview panel scores on only two items,

  1. Ni motto wa nano?
  2. Ni kabila gani.
    Braare funda, mathogothanio, heke cia ngware, mavi ya kuku!
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Think of the infrastructure needed for this. Now refer to 50B CCTV camera project for Nairobi that didn’t capture Riverside Drive. Now imagine the system you propose needs all employers to register with govt then entered into system (hello tax manenos!) and have access to the database. In the US an employer can verify your SSN to confirm you are authorised to work, and your criminal record, yet Kuna job zinaitwa “under the table”.

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A bogus suggestion by a lazy communist wannabe mind. There millions of Kenyans who’re are employed and their work is just good.

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very salty remark

if this is followed could help, but sija soma yote, most of the time before we do bizz, i normally ask around, niki kosewa najua ni mtu wangu amenipea msee mbaya also easy to track okora

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It works in some procurement rules where clients write references, even with NGO’s some donors request references from previous donors or audited reports approved by donors. In the construction industry, the grapevine reference makes all the difference. The mechanic we almost all use was referred to us by a friend

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What I meant was that the current system of reference works just fine. There is no evidence to suggest that the average employee is more currpt/less honest than the average Kenyan. What the OP wants is another National System that will track people and like the NEMIS thing. Who wants to be police about by some software from NEMIS (EDUCATION) to NEMIS (EMPLOYMENT)

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It’s for tax manenos

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This seems like a good suggestion.
We have a Health System, National Registry and now NEMIS. Instead of another system, we simple expand and integrate what he is proposing. Enable citizen access through which they can give references

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We do not have any system, reference don’t require a National System.
Let us not complicate a simple thing, references are checks done by the employer not any institution. We are not a developed country, most people may not have access to personal computers or the internet. The only thing the government needs to support is legislation and setup sample form to be available on the county government employment/ labour office or website, people download the reference forms for their home counties, it is completed by previous employer or school etc and sent to the new employer via email, post, or phone as attachment. The new employer receives checks it and files it.
If a person commits a serious offence against an employer and i.e runs away with a baby, it becomes like searching for a needle in a haystack, a waste of police resources trying to work out where a person comes from. When incidents are reported to the police, the first question becomes did you obtain a reference. Usually when we complete application forms we have to input details such as address, telephone numbers, etc. but informal sectors don’t have that means of contact. A reference form would need to contain some basic information, such as address or phone numbers for traceability.

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First of all, you say that we don’t require a National System and the go ahead to state that the Government should pass legislation. After that, you want a system where people will download a form or get it from the county government, and the emails and filing; isn’t that a National system? Or you think that you’ll just wake up one morning and send an email from you [email protected] email address? Nope: there will be bureaucracies that will define who in the organization can send the form. The penalties for falsifying information in the form.

The worst thing is then you go ahead to say that such a system should be mandatory for both the formal and informal sector: and the first question that the police will ask you after your daughter has been raped by the shamba boy is “Did you obtain a reference?” So what happens when the answer is “No?”

Answer 1 by police: Pole boss hapo hatuwezi kusaidia
Answer 2 by police: You’re under arrest for not filling form xyz according to blahblah bla.

What we need is to have the necessary information needed to keep dangerous people out of our homes and work places. That means that we should have criminal record of dangerous criminals public available.

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What you’re doing is common sense which everyone should do but not compelled to do. Can you imagine if it were mandatory that you DO that? That some bureaucrat working in an office will give you mandatory guidelines on what to ask and who to ask? Which forms to fill and what not to fill? If you’re looking for a mechanic, you don’t really care much if the guy you’re employing slept with a 16-year old girl and settled it out of court by marrying the girl.

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