Recent remarks by Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi on Kenyans fighting in the Russia-Ukraine war raise more questions than answers. It is equally interesting to learn that the government will take up the issue of Kenyans being recruited in the war with Moscow.
The government should not feign innocence on this matter. To begin with, the State has made its own people vulnerable by encouraging them to look for work abroad. Many Kenyans have been forced to seek “greener pastures” elsewhere, mainly in the Middle East and the Far East.
Therefore, it is not surprising for unregulated agencies to take advantage of the situation and dupe people of non-existent jobs abroad, or even sign them up for risky ones. It’s little wonder that some Kenyans end up in international organised crime rings, or others are trafficked as sex slaves. Many others find themselves doing back-breaking work abroad, contrary to what recruitment agencies had promised them.
Complaints about Kenyans being enslaved in the Middle East seem to have fallen on deaf ears. This is despite evidence that some Kenyans have been tortured by their employers, and reports of others losing their lives. The government has not addressed this issue convincingly. One wonders if State authorities will handle the latest exploitation of Kenyans in Russia.
Only a desperate person will flee their homeland to look for opportunities abroad. Kenyans — and not just the youth — have become despondent. We have freshly minted university graduates every year, but there are no long-term government plans for employment. The few opportunities that have been created are a drop in the ocean. Unemployment, especially among the youth, is a ticking time bomb in this country.
Dubious recruitment agencies
It amazes me that a president and Cabinet would encourage citizens to leave their homeland to go and serve in foreign lands instead of staying at home and building their own country.
Kenyans have been asking pertinent questions, and I’m adding my voice: “Why haven’t those in government sent their own children abroad for these questionable jobs?” “Was the government elected by foreign nationals or Kenyans?” I ask this because supporting the economies of other countries rather than Kenya’s beats logic. It is disturbing that some dubious recruitment agencies are operating under the nose of the authorities. This encourages modern-day slavery under the guise of employment abroad.
The arrest of officials from the Ministry of Labour at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport for soliciting bribes from recruitment agencies in December 2025 is just the tip of the iceberg. According to a report by the Africa Organised Crime Index of 2025, Kenya ranks high in Africa for human trafficking and fourth in overall organised crime on the continent. The main factors cited are poverty, high unemployment and lack of awareness about trafficking tactics. The million-dollar question is: “How come the intelligence in Kenya was not aware of the 'Russia jobs' yet this poses a threat to national security?
What Kenyans need at this point is decisive action by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; if not, one may conclude that the authorities are only shedding crocodile tears. Had the reports on Kenyans dying on the frontline in the Russia-Ukraine war not been reported by the media, then how many more lives would we have lost? One of the core duties of the government is to protect its people. Does this mean that someone slept on the job? In any other morally and ethically inclined country, heads would roll.
It appears that the solution for unemployment in Kenya is through programmes such as the Nyota initiative and Kazi Mtaani. The Nyota programme is funded by the World Bank and should not be used as a political tool. In my opinion, giving untrained youth that kind of money is not a wise move. It is putting the cart before the horse. Graduates may have university degrees, but not necessarily the skills to run a business. The funds would be better spent if the youth were first offered business skills and then a conducive working environment is created for them, such as paying lower taxes and expanding the market base for their products and services.
Kenya faces many challenges that have contributed to the lack of jobs and business opportunities. The government’s priority should be trying and get the country out of the hole it finds itself in. The country’s corruption index still remains high, and now another problem has been added — of Kenyans fighting in a war in Russia that has no significance to them. What is even more troubling is the reports that some Kenyan officials are enabling human trafficking through bribery at our airports and border posts.
The government can blame Kenyans for sneaking out of the country or using unofficial methods to seek greener pastures, but it bears the largest blame. Let us bring the Kenyans fighting in the Russian war home!
