A total of 85 migrant Kenyan workers have died in the Middle East in the last three months while some have returned home in horrible conditions following torture and inhuman treatment by their employers. Only last week a lady returned to Kenya on a wheel chair after paralysis caused by alleged torture.
By HARRIET MUGO
Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary (CS) nominee Dr Alfred Mutua intends to end the suffering of Kenyans in the Middle East once he is cleared to take up the position.
The former Machakos governor made the revelations about his plan when he faced the Parliamentary vetting panel at Town Hall in Nairobi on Monday.
Mutua told the vetting committee that he plans to immediately fly to the Middle East after he is approved and sworn in as the Foreign Affairs CS to resolve the crisis facing Kenyan workers where many are either in prison, undergoing slave like treatment with others returning home in caskets – dead.
He further called on the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to be involved the in the investigations of suspicious deaths of Kenyans in the Gulf countries.
Mutua noted that Saudi Arabia is a friendly country and the Kingdom is not involved in the suspicious murders and mistreatments of Kenyans.
“It is unfortunate that they are being mistreated. We have lost 85 Kenyans in the last three months. This is because there is a systematic failure in recruitment. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is friendly and is not involved,” Mutua said.
“There has been a lot of victim-blaming and if cleared, I will ensure to work with the Labour Ministry to ensure stringent measures are put in place to stop this . We will investigate the deaths and will send a message to ensure that the perpetrators are brought to book,” he added
