Nairobi – Kenya’s cabinet on Tuesday approved the country’s accession to two international anti-mercenary treaties, a move aimed at curbing the recruitment of citizens into foreign conflicts and combating human trafficking.
Kenya is among several African countries whose citizens have reportedly been forcibly conscripted into the Russian army to fight in Ukraine after being lured with promises of jobs abroad.
The foreign affairs ministry officially estimates that 291 Kenyans have been victims of Russia’s “irregular military recruitment”, including 19 dead and 32 missing.
But a report by the Kenyan intelligence services, seen by AFP, puts the figure at over 1,000 and says officials were complicit.
“Gaps in existing legislation have enabled unscrupulous recruitment agencies to deceive Kenyans into taking up dangerous overseas assignments,” reads the statement.
The two treaties are the 1989 UN Convention Against the Recruitment, Use, Financing and Training of Mercenaries and the 1977 OAU Convention for the Elimination of Mercenarism in Africa — which Kenya is already a signatory.
“Accession to the treaties will provide a stronger legal and diplomatic basis to reject claims that Kenya supports mercenary operations,” it added.
The cabinet also agreed to strengthen human trafficking laws targeting “networks sending Kenyans to countries in the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Eastern Europe for forced labour, sexual exploitation and criminal activities.”
Last week, foreign minister Musalia Mudavadi told the Senate the government would table the anti-mercenary treaties in parliament for ratification.
He said more than 50 Kenyans had been assisted to return home from the front lines, where they had been fighting for Russia in Ukraine.
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Source: AFP
