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Kenyan arrested in Saudi for exposing migrant worker abuses – Kiambu senator
19th November, 2025 08:27 PM
Tension is rising once again, with Kiambu Senator Karungo wa Thang’wa saying a Kenyan man has been detained days after exposing the suffering of Kenyans working in Saudi Arabia.
This comes even as rights groups continue to criticise the government for inaction in the plight of Kenyans working in the Middle East.
In an X post on Wednesday, November 19, 2025, the Senator said the man was among those he visited during his trip to Riyadh, which exposed how Kenyans are stranded and homeless in Saudi.
“A Kenyan in Saudi Arabia, known as Kiongozi, one of those I visited during my tour of Riyadh, has been arrested. This comes just days after he received threats from a Mr Hamood, warning him of dire consequences, including ‘surgery’ for exposing what Kenyans are going through,” the post read in part.
According to Thang’wa, the man had received threats for apparently soiling the reputation of Saudi Arabia.
In a series of posts, the legislator shared the screenshot of the threats, seemingly posted in a series of WhatsApp status messages, in which he was warned to respect Saudi Arabia.
“This is exactly what I have been saying. This is the reality our people face when they dare to speak out. I am asking all Kenyans to turn our eyes on this, until our brothers and sisters in Saudi Arabia are safe, free, and well enumerated. Here are some of the screenshots of the threats. The writer, though a Saudi, has business roots here in Kenya,” he wrote.
Thangwa has since raised the issue before the Senate, even as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs maintains that it is engaging with the Kenyan Embassy in Riyadh to address the plight of Kenyans through diplomatic means.
“I have now raised this matter in the Senate because our people deserve dignity and urgent action. In Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, I personally found Kenyan mothers and children sleeping on the streets, including a newborn barely two weeks old,” he said on his X account.
“As a Senator and representative of our people, I reached them, yet our Embassy has not. Hundreds of DNA cases remain unresolved, and up to three hundred Kenyans are detained in Saudi Arabia without proper support. Other countries, like the Philippines, protect their citizens aggressively. Kenya must match that standard.”
Govt on Saudi Arabia
Meanwhile, the government noted the concerns regarding a section of Kenyan women and their undocumented children in the Middle East.
In a report issued on November 14, 2025, the Principal Secretary, State Department for Diaspora Affairs, Roseline Njogu, acknowledged the Kenyan public and international partners of the government’s sustained, citizen-centred, and multi-faceted interventions to resolve this humanitarian situation.
“The registration of births of nationals occurring abroad is well regulated under the Kenya Citizenship and Immigration Act (Cap 170) and the Births and Deaths Registration Act (Cap 149), with the obligation to register resting on parents. Kenya Missions Abroad are mandated to receive the notification of birth in the prescribed form, with sufficient particulars, and facilitate the registration,” PS Njogu said.
She went on explaining that according to Saudi Law, pre- or extramarital sex is illegal and carries severe penalties, including arrest, imprisonment, and/or deportation. Thus, conception and birth issuing out of such relationships are considered proof of an offence.
“Fearing the legal ramifications, women who conceive out of wedlock sometimes deliver at home, aided by unqualified midwives. A marriage certificate is required by Saudi authorities to issue a birth certificate. Thus, in view of these restrictions, single mothers delivering children out of wedlock in Saudi Arabia are often unable and unwilling to register these births,” she explained.
