A sombre mood engulfed Mboroti village in Limuru, Kiambu County, as the family and hundreds of locals gathered to mourn the death of a relative who had died in Ukraine, yet another victim of the Russia war.
James Kamau Ndungu left the village in June 2025 to get a better job in Russia, where he was set to work as a cook or truck driver upon landing.
What pushed him to opt for the job was the dream of providing a better life for his family and their one-year-old daughter. His mission was also driven by a lack of job opportunities and the high cost of living.
Kamau’s mother, Hannah Kamau, said she gave her only son the go-ahead to take the job in Russia after being told he would be earning Sh215,000 every month.
“We were initially processing papers for him to go to Turkey but in the middle of the process, one of his friends told us that there was a recruitment agency looking for people to go to Russia,” Ms Kamau said.
When she first heard about Russia, she thought about the ongoing war with Ukraine. However, one of the recruiters, whom the family identified only as Festus, informed them that they were going to work as cooks.
She agreed, and the paperwork to facilitate his travel was started at full speed, raising the family’s eyebrows.
Within a week, all the requirements had been met, including the medical test, and they were ready to travel.
“He told me after they were called for a briefing before travelling that some of the recruits were police officers who had resigned for the job. ‘Mom, if the police can resign to go to Russia, don’t you think it is a good job?’”
On the day Kamau was leaving, a strange incident happened at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport which Ms Kamau said was unusual, since she had seen him off before when he travelled to Qatar, but the one for Russia was different.
An emotional Hannah Kamau (left), mother of the late James Kamau Ndung’u, and Jane Karinge, widow of the late Ndung’u, both seated, take part in a candle-lighting session during a symbolic burial ceremony at the family home near Mboroti Shopping Centre in Kwa Wakihuria, Limuru, on March 6, 2026.
Photo credit: Wilfred Nyangaresi | Nation
“He had a briefcase and a bag. As someone who was going for a job, we bought him some new items including shoes, shirts and a bag. But at the airport, he informed us that the agents told them they did not need all those items, after all, they were going to be given uniforms upon arrival. He left with an empty briefcase.”
Nevertheless, they said goodbye to him and wished him well in his new job, unaware that it would be the last time they saw him.
When he arrived, he told them they were going to be taken into a forest for training, a message that disturbed the family.
“He said they were being trained on how to drive on Russian roads since they would be placed in either job and needed to be ready. He told us he had signed a one-year contract and would be given a two-month break, which we thought was good since he would be coming home to see his family.”
However, his last words, which still ring in his mother’s head to this day, were that their phones would be seized for at least three months as they were about to embark on a difficult journey.
Unbeknownst to them, their son was undergoing combat training that would turn him into part of the Russian military machinery. Nevertheless, the family remained hopeful that Kamau’s job would improve their living standards.
Emotional Jane Karinge, widow of the late James Kamau Ndung’u, delivers a tribute during a mock burial ceremony at their family home near Mboroti Shopping Centre in Kwa Wakihuria, Limuru, on March 6, 2026.
Photo credit: Wilfred Nyangaresi | Nation
“He sent a photo while holding a gun. That alone made me sick and my blood pressure went up immediately. I have been crying; I cried the whole of September when he went into the bush,” the family said, adding that the search for their son started late last year when they visited the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which informed them just last week that their son had died.
During the candlelit vigil on Friday, Jane Karinge Wanjiku, Kamau's wife, said their lives would never be the same again.
Clinton Nyapara Mogesa who has been fighting in the Russia-Ukraine war.
Photo credit: Pool
She said her husband had big dreams for them and was very close to their one-year-old daughter, who has been asking where he is.
“As I blow this candle, I want to say that you went to Russia to look for something for your daughter and you wanted the best for our child. I promise that I will protect your daughter and make sure she gets what you wanted for her. I will make sure that I give her the best life,” she said.
They had known each other since high school when she was in Form Two. From that moment, their relationship grew to the point where Kamau trusted her to take care of his mother while he was working in Qatar before returning home.
Later, the two settled together, with Kamau assuring her that the job in Russia would be a turning point for them after several years of searching for opportunities, which had even led him to cross the border into Tanzania at one point.
“He went to Russia to provide for his daughter, but Russia took him. Russia killed my husband.”
The family now wants the government to help repatriate the body and take action against the people who recruited them to fight against their will.
The initial plans of carrying out a mock burial were cancelled as the family questioned the criteria used to identify their son.
“How did they single out that this man is Kamau out of hundreds of people from Africa who are said to be at the battlefield in Russia? Let them bring our son,” Kamau’s uncle said.
