Stories of how Kenyans working in Saudi Arabia are mistreated and even at times killed have been narrated a lot, especially this year when one Kenyan girl, Diana Chepkemoi’s plight for help was heard and brought up lots of protests from Kenyan netizens.
Former Nairobi governor Mike Sonko volunteered to help bring back the bodies of three women who died in Saudi Arabia, after leaving Kenya to make ends meet for their families. The three women are Jackline Muthoni, Lucy Mwanyae and Mercy Mbula.
Mike Sonko catered for the flight charges and mortuary fees, as well as transporting the bodies to their families. He lauded Foreign Affairs CS Alfred Mutua for supporting the repatriation of the bodies.
When the bodies landed at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport on Monday morning, one of the workers in Saudi attested that some Kenyans leave for the middle east and indulge in drugs, alcohol and party-life.
Previously, Kenya’s Foreign Permanent Secretary Macharia Kamau stated that Kenyan girls working in Saudi Arabia are abused by their Saudi employers because they are hard-headed.
The woman who arrived with the bodies of three dead women revealed that some Kenyans arrive in Saudi and look for means to escape the employers that contracted them in search of a better paying job.
“It is tempting to run away from the contract jobs because one is paid Sh. 30,000 while those working outside earn Sh. 60,000,” she said.
She states that if one is not disciplined while in Saudi, they become victims of bad company leading them to engage in drugs and alcohol abuse. They end up spending all their money on drugs and eventually end up too broke to send anything back home.
She adds that those that escaped their employers and are roaming about in the middle east, begin to brew alcohol in their own houses and hold parties. And in these parties, fights break out and they get killed.
For example, Mercy Mbula was killed at a party after her friend poured chemical acid on her after discovering she was having an affair with her boyfriend. A postmortem report indicates that Ms. Mbula died of ‘Chemical burns’.
“I was called by a friend, who told me they fought at a party where she was doused in acid. The problem is that after being injured in such incidents, one cannot go to the hospital because they fear being arrested and they die in their houses,” the woman said.
While women fight over men who spoil them with money to a point of killing each other, others die during abortion attempts.
READ: Murang’a woman kills her baby to be free to go work in Saudi Arabia
“If one becomes pregnant and they don’t want a baby, there are some people who assist them to get rid of the pregnancy. Some cases get serious and since they cannot go to a hospital, they die due to complications,” she said.
The woman also disclosed that there exists organ trade in the Middle East, and the bodies are buried in the vast desert.
“There is a big trade in organs and the sale of kidneys is rampant. Some bosses are so evil that they kill, sell the organs and bury the body in the desert,” the woman said, claiming a friend of hers nearly fell victim to such a scheme and escaped.
After the body has been buried never to be found again, the employers who engage in the organ and kidney trade surrender the passport of the victims to the Kenyan Embassy and report that the person escaped from employment.