How ex-salonist facilitated human trafficking ring

On August 23, 2022, Ian Githinji left Nyeri for Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), optimistic about his journey to Thailand for a job.

The 23-year-old had secured a visitor’s visa through Eunice Wairimu Karwenji, a former salonist turned employment agent.

Wairimu, 47, was working as a sub-agent for Frigece Company, a firm located in downtown Nairobi, until she was jailed last week for 10 years with the option of paying a fine of Sh4.05 million.

Githinji had paid a total of Sh185,000 for the visa and Wairimu’s commission. However, his flight was aborted when Qatar Airways demanded $1,000 (Sh129,000) — a fee required for anyone travelling to Thailand with a visitor’s visa before they are checked in.

Before obtaining the visa, Wairimu had accompanied him to the Thai Embassy in Nairobi. She also had him take a typing test in her office before admitting him to a WhatsApp group that included two foreigners and an interpreter known only as Wycliff.

Githinji was assured he would receive a work visa once he arrived in the Southeast Asian country.

On his second attempt to leave via JKIA, two days later, Githinji was removed from the plane by an immigration officer who informed him that Thailand was unsafe.

Perhaps fortune was on Githinji’s side, as his visa and ticket would have led him into slavery under the guise of seeking greener pastures.

While he believed he was travelling to Thailand, unknown to him, his final destination was Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, a country notorious for human trafficking.

Githinji wasn’t the only person whose flight was aborted twice. James Ngunjiri was with him, also eager to leave the country after struggling to find employment.

He had been introduced to Wairimu by his cousin, Leah Nyambura Muthoni, who paid her Sh200,000 on his behalf.

Ngunjiri told Kahawa Court Magistrate Boaz Ombewa that he met Wairimu in July 2022. She took him, along with about six others, to the Thai Embassy to process their visas. They then communicated via a WhatsApp group.

Their visas were ready after about two weeks, and they were informed their tickets had been booked for travel the following day, August 23.

Hotel bookings

Wairimu accompanied them to the airport on the day of travel. She provided their tickets, hotel bookings, travel insurance, Covid-19 certificates, and passports, but Qatar Airways officials refused to check them in as they didn’t have the Sh129,000 fee.

After they were turned away, Wairimu promised to resolve the issue. About a week later, she provided them with new tickets for Ethiopian Airlines. This time, they managed to check in, but once again, they didn’t depart, as immigration officers removed them from the aircraft moments before take-off and handed them over to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations.

A 2022 US Department report ranked Myanmar as tier three for human trafficking, with forced labour and sexual exploitation being the primary reasons. Both adults and children are affected.

A United Nations report on human trafficking indicated that foreign victims trafficked to Myanmar were often forced to work in factories, engage in sex work, or perform domestic labour.

Rosemary Kalunde was among the Kenyans who ended up enslaved in Myanmar and was subsequently jailed before her family fundraised to bring her back to Kenya.

Kalunde had been referred to Wairimu by a friend. She, too, was desperate for a job. Wairimu promised her a customer care job in Thailand, for which she paid Sh180,000 in commission, in several instalments, through M-Pesa.

As part of the process, Wairimu personally facilitated her application for a tourist visa, again promising that Kalunde would receive a work permit once in Thailand.

Kalunde travelled to Thailand on August 5, 2022 and was met at the airport by a Chinese man, who then took her to Myanmar, where she was worked at a cryptocurrency company. After working for two months, she discovered that the company was involved in an online scam, and she decided to quit.

However, when she tried to leave, the company demanded Sh500,000, and when she couldn’t pay, they confiscated her meal card.

Fortunately, she was able to contact a woman named Nancy, who connected her to an organisation that provided accommodation and helped her report the matter to the authorities.

Kalunde was later arrested, charged, and jailed in Thailand for eight days. After serving her sentence, she was held in an immigration centre until January 10, 2023, when she finally returned to Kenya.

Wairimu, her family, and friends helped raise the money for her ticket back home.

Kalunde explained that, despite Wairimu’s promise that she would receive a work permit within three months of arrival, she never got the crucial documents. Furthermore, she had no visa to enter Myanmar.

Another victim, Winny Njoki, narrated that she was introduced to Wairimu by a friend named Beatrice, as she was keen to travel to Saudi Arabia.

She handed over her passport and identity card to begin the process, but along the way, Njoki changed her mind and asked Wairimu to return her documents. However, Wairimu withheld her passport and demanded Sh40,000 before she would release it.

In her court defence, Wairimu claimed that the victims had approached her to facilitate their travel, which she did, but they ultimately didn’t travel. She alleged that it was the complainants who had requested tourist visas, and she merely facilitated their wishes.

Magistrate Ombewa ruled that Wairimu had been obtaining money from the victims while working in cahoots with others.

“I find that the prosecution has successfully proven all three elements of the offense of trafficking in persons contrary to Section 3(1) of the Counter-Trafficking in Persons Act 2010, and I proceed to enter a conviction on both counts accordingly,” said Ombewa.

Wairimu was born on August 6, 1977 in Mpeketoni, Lamu County.

After primary school, she took a salonist course in 1997 and worked until 2008. Two years later, she went to Dubai to work as a salonist until 2014, when she returned to Kenya.

In 2016, she ventured into sub-agency work, helping people seek employment opportunities in the United Arab Emirates.

She began sourcing clients for Fregice Agencies Limited, a recruitment agency based at New Gatakaini Building along Tom Mboya Street in Nairobi, which helps women secure jobs as housemaids in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Lebanon.

The mother of two said she worked on commission and supplemented her income by selling second-hand clothes.