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A law without teeth: How Kenya’s migrant workers remain unprotected
Cabinet Secretary for Labour and Social Protection Alfred Mutua and National Employment Authority (NEA) Director General Edith Okoki appear before the National Assembly Diaspora Affairs and Migrant Workers Committee at Bunge Tower, Nairobi, on Tuesday, August 5, 2025.
What you need to know:
- A decade-long legal lacuna that has left thousands of workers exposed, despite the existence of a mandatory Sh1.5 million security bond.
- Private employment agencies are required to execute the bond to facilitate the repatriation of distressed migrant workers.
- National Employment Authority says it cannot utilise the bond because there are no regulations to operationalise it.
Kenya’s migrant labour sector will remain in limbo longer due to a decade-long legal lacuna that has left thousands of workers exposed, despite the existence of a mandatory Sh1.5 million security bond meant to protect them.
Private employment agencies are required to execute the bond to facilitate the repatriation of distressed migrant workers or the remains of those who die abroad.
However, the National Employment Authority (NEA) told MPs it has been unable to utilise the bond since its introduction in 2016 because there are no regulations to operationalise it.
Appearing before the Diaspora Affairs and Migrant Workers Committee, NEA Director Edith Okoki said all licensed agencies must execute the Sh1.5 million (USD 11,700) bond after clearance by the Private Employment Agencies’ Vetting Committee.
“The main objective of the bond is to provide assistance in repatriating distressed migrant workers or the remains of deceased migrant workers,” she said, adding that “NEA has therefore not been able to utilize the bond.”
The Employment Act, 2007, Section 85, seeks to guarantee security in foreign contracts of service, stipulating:
“Where an employer who enters into a foreign contract of service does not reside or carry on business in Kenya, the Commissioner of Labour may require the employer to give a security bond in the prescribed form, with one or more sureties resident in Kenya and approved by the Commissioner of Labour, for the due performance of the contract in such sums as the Commissioner for Labour considers reasonable. Where the employer engages an authorized agent resident in Kenya, the Commissioner for Labour may require that the security bond be given by the agent, and the agent shall personally be bound by the terms of the bond notwithstanding the disclosure of agent’s principal,” the law states.
The bond is typically either executed by the private employment agency or a family member. In the absence of critical regulations, and with the Labour Management Bill, 2025 — which is intended to establish the Migrant Workers Welfare Fund — taking painfully long, the sector has increasingly become chaotic, mired with unbridled agents and horrendous reports about Kenyan workers overseas.
Lang'ata MP Phelix Odiwuor (right) flanked by Kisii County Women Representative Donya Doris Toto and other members of the Diaspora Affairs and Migrant Workers Parliamentary Inquiry Committee during an earlier meeting.
The MPs heard that while Monarch Insurance and African Merchant Assurance Company Limited have been issuing the security bonds, most insurance companies require NEA or the recruiting agency to do the repatriation first, then claim — subjecting Kenyan migrant workers in distress and families trying to repatriate their loved ones to painful uncertainty.
“There is a time we engaged an insurance company. They told us NEA or the agency can actually repatriate then claim. It became a problem because NEA could not do much and the agency could not afford,” stated the Director.
Lang’ata MP Phelix Odiwuor (Jalang’o), chairing the Committee session, questioned why the security bond was in place yet “it is not serving its purpose.”
The Committee session, sought to know which measures NEA has taken to address the challenges, considering the security bond requirement has been in existence for many years.
“Why is the security bond there if it is not serving its purpose?” posed MP Odiwuor.
Legislators led by Kisauni MP Rashid Bedzimba and Women Representatives Pamela Njoki (Embu) and Zamzam Mohamed (Mombasa) expressed concern over the alarming unruliness in the sector, citing Dubai, Qatar and Lebanon as the greatest culprits.
“The employer has to bring the body. The security bond has been there for a long time. They have to honour their pledge,” stated MP Zamzam.
The MP recounted a conversation she had with a recruitment agent maligning a Kenyan migrant worker who was in distress overseas before realizing she was a legislator.
“The person was telling me ‘he was arrogant’ until they realized I am an MP. I wondered if they can speak to me, an MP, like that, what about a vulnerable Kenyan?”
Cabinet Secretary for Labour and Social Protection Alfred Mutua and National Employment Authority (NEA) Director General Edith Okoki appear before the National Assembly Diaspora Affairs and Migrant Workers Committee at Bunge Tower, Nairobi, on Tuesday, August 5, 2025.
“This industry is hectic, it’s tedious, and it has crooks.”
In response, the Employment Authority acknowledged that efforts to use the security bond have “been a big problem,” which will be resolved by the Labour Management Bill, urging MPs to help fast-track it.
Other means of ensuring security in foreign contracts of service include bilateral labour agreements, where some agreements have expressly placed the responsibility of repatriating distressed migrant workers or their remains on the employer in partnership with the Kenyan recruitment agency. Kenya has concluded six bilateral labour agreements with Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Kingdom, Germany and Austria.
Registration with the Social Health Authority, where “the government has been encouraging departing migrant workers to register and contribute to SHA so that their family members left behind are covered. This lessens the burden of migrant worker in medical expenses.”
Further, “the government has been encouraging departing migrant workers to register and contribute to the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) in order to access the benefits during old age,” read documents presented to the MPs.
“The government has been encouraging departing migrant workers to take personal insurance cover to cushion them during their tour of duty.”
The Migrant Workers Welfare Fund proposed under the Labour Management Bill, 2025, is a contributory fund whose primary objective is to provide protection and assistance to Kenyan migrant workers during migration, stay in destination countries and return to the country.
Upon establishment, the specific objectives of the fund will include providing relief assistance to migrant workers and their families, invalidity benefits to migrant workers, and assistance to migrant workers and their families during calamities in destination countries; providing survivor benefits and funeral grants where a migrant worker dies; psycho-social support to migrant workers and their families; legal assistance to migrant workers involved in disputes with their employers; and repatriating migrant workers in distress or bringing back the remains of a migrant worker who dies abroad.
The fund will also collaborate with relevant agencies to support skills development and recognition of migrant workers, support pre-departure orientation and training programmes, support return and reintegration programmes for migrant workers, and create awareness and sensitise migrant workers and the public on labour migration.
“It is envisaged the Migrant Workers Welfare Fund will address some of the challenges faced by migrant workers,” stated NEA.
The Authority has appealed to the Committee to “support the State Department of Labour and Skills Development in fast-tracking the finalization and enactment of the Labour Migration Management Bill, which also anchors the Migrant Workers Welfare Fund.”
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