What Mudavadi must seek while in Moscow for trapped Kenyans

Kenyans sneaking into Russia is not new. As Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi heads to Moscow next week, what do we know about the trafficking of Kenyans to fight for Russia in Ukraine, what of government’s responsibility to protect citizens and what options does the CS have?

Exposed by the recruits and affected families, 1,000 Kenyans, mostly young men, have been conscripted to fight for Russia in one of Europe’s bloodiest wars since World War II. Shocking, but it is not the first time Kenyans have slipped into Russia under the nose of their government. In the 1950s and 1960s, Kenyans dodged British colonial authorities to seek further education in the Soviet Union.

They studied engineering, education, war and medicine like the late and legendary health rights activist Dr Odhiambo Olel, who died in 2022. Jomo Kenyatta also spent a stint there.

While global attention in the Ukraine war has been displaced by Gaza, Sudan and now Iran, between 400,000 and 1.5 million people may have died. Since 2022, 15,000 Ukrainian civilians may have been killed. Russia may have lost four soldiers for every 1 Km2 it has fought to annex from Ukraine. That 1,400-1,700 citizens from over 12 African countries are fighting in Ukraine has now reignited Africa’s attention. If the National Intelligence Services report cited by the National Assembly Majority Leader in February is accurate, more than 71 per cent of all African fighters are Kenyan. With 89 actively deployed, 39 hospitalised, 28 missing in action, 27 repatriated, the numbers of those killed to date and the fate of the rest remain unknown.

Promises of Sh350,000 monthly salaries, Sh900,000 bonuses and Russian citizenship drive the recruitment. Recruits say they were deceived, forced into binding contracts and pushed into combat with little training or equipment in sub-zero weather.

With passports confiscated, communication cut off, and no Kenya embassy support, leaving the frontline is impossible. Their trafficking has also become lucrative for those unwilling to join “their cargo.” They include a network of private employment agencies, military contractors, immigration and law‑enforcement officers, the National Employment Authority, and officials in both countries’ embassies. Kenya does not have a specific law prohibiting citizens from fighting for foreign governments. The State can criminalise combatants who fight against us or for terrorist and non-state mercenary groups. Under Russian law, foreigners and stateless persons can join the army and enjoy full immunity from prosecution and extradition even for mass war crimes. Under international humanitarian law, any foreigner who joins a state’s armed forces becomes a lawful combatant and are entitled to protection as a prisoner of war. So where does this leave our Foreign Affairs CS’s negotiations on 16 and 17 March in Moscow? Some basics. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine remains an act of aggression against a NATO ally and the multilateral world order. The indiscriminate attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure is a human rights catastrophe.

As a major non-NATO ally of the United States, the gulf between Kenyan foreign policy and the choices our citizens are making in this war cannot be more glaring. Given the economic vulnerability of Kenyan youth at home, Kenya Kwanza’s national migration policy and proliferation of foreign wars, citizens must demand full transparency and stronger parliamentary oversight. The CS must obtain a comprehensive list of all who received travel visas, have died or seek safe passage back.

He must secure their right to withdraw from the battlefront, receive their dues and return. The National Assembly must mandate further investigations and more arrests. We also require a law like South Africa and the USA that regulates Kenyans who choose to privately fight for foreign governments.

The lack of sanctions and travel restrictions on Russia has enabled this trafficking crisis. There is no law banning citizens from joining foreign armies. Predatory recruiters currently operate with no fear of legal consequences. The poor and unemployed freely travel to their death while their families realise the dangers too late. This must be interrupted.