Historic Judgment Exposes Local Role in Transnational Crime

NAIROBI, KENYA – In a groundbreaking decision, the Employment and Labour Relations Court in Nairobi on Thursday, November 21, 2025, awarded Ksh.5 million to Haron Nyakango, a Kenyan university student who was trafficked to a cyber-scam facility in Myanmar. The ruling by Principal Judge Byram Ongaya found Gratify Solutions International Ltd, a Kenyan recruitment agency, and its directors—Virginia Wacheke Muriithi, Ann Njeri Kihara, and Boniface Owino—liable for subjecting Nyakango to slavery, forced labour, and inhuman and degrading treatment. This judgment marks one of Kenya’s most significant legal victories against the rapidly growing threat of transnational human trafficking, particularly the exploitation of Kenyans in Southeast Asian scam operations.

The Deceptive Path to Modern Slavery

The court heard that Nyakango, in search of funds to complete his studies at Kisii University, was promised a legitimate customer service job in Thailand with a monthly salary of Sh180,000. He paid the recruiters a fee of Sh200,000. However, upon his arrival in Bangkok in December 2024, his passport was confiscated, and he was smuggled by boat into a heavily guarded compound in Myanmar controlled by a Chinese criminal gang. There, he and other victims were forced to work 12-hour days, creating fake social media profiles to defraud individuals, primarily in the United States, through sophisticated cryptocurrency and real estate scams. Failure to meet scamming targets resulted in severe punishments, including beatings, starvation, and solitary confinement in freezing rooms. Nyakango was rescued by the Myanmar military on April 4, 2025, and subsequently repatriated to Kenya.

In his ruling, Judge Ongaya declared that Nyakango’s constitutional rights and freedoms were grossly violated. The court issued a permanent injunction barring Gratify Solutions International, which was registered in October 2024 and found to be operating from a cyber café without the proper licenses, from recruiting or deploying Kenyan workers abroad. The directors were ordered to pay the Ksh.5 million compensation by February 1, 2026.

A Growing National Crisis

This case highlights a disturbing and escalating trend. The Kenyan government has acknowledged the gravity of the situation, with Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi stating on November 12, 2025, that at least 400 Kenyans have been ensnared by similar trafficking networks in Southeast Asia. Between January and April 2025 alone, the government repatriated 175 citizens from Myanmar. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) estimates that at least 120,000 people are trapped in such scam compounds across Myanmar, with criminal syndicates increasingly targeting English-speaking Africans to scam victims in the US and Europe.

Kenya remains on the Tier 2 watch list in the U.S. State Department's 2025 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report, indicating that while the government is making significant efforts, it does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking. The report commended Kenya for increasing prosecutions and convictions—with 21 traffickers convicted in 2024 compared to three in 2023—but noted that official complicity remains a significant concern, with no officials prosecuted for trafficking-related offenses in the past year. Protection services for victims, especially adults, also remain limited.

Implications for Kenya's Labour Export Industry

The ruling against Gratify Solutions International is expected to send a strong deterrent message to the hundreds of private recruitment agencies operating in Kenya. Nyakango’s advocate, Lillian Nyangasi, described the judgment as a “groundbreaking legal milestone” that sets a vital precedent. It formally recognizes the liability of local recruiters for the entire trafficking chain, even for abuses committed in foreign jurisdictions by third parties. This decision affirms that Kenyan courts can provide effective remedies for citizens harmed by transnational criminal enterprises and provides a template for future litigation on behalf of other survivors.

The case underscores the urgent need for stricter regulation and oversight of the labour export sector. While President William Ruto's administration has promoted labour export as a key economic strategy, this ruling highlights the profound risks to vulnerable and unemployed youth. As government agencies like the National Employment Authority continue to register private employment agencies, this judgment serves as a critical call to action for enhanced vetting, continuous monitoring, and holding fraudulent recruiters criminally accountable to protect the rights and dignity of Kenyan workers abroad. The government's National Plan of Action for Combating Human Trafficking (2022-2027) focuses on prevention, prosecution, and victim protection, but its effective implementation is now more critical than ever. FURTHER INVESTIGATION REQUIRED into the response from the National Employment Authority and the Ministry of Labour regarding this specific judgment and any subsequent policy changes.