By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Authorities have announced that Kenyans enlisted to fight for Russia in the war against Ukraine will be granted amnesty on their return to the East African country and will no more face punishment.
The announcement by Kenya’s foreign minister, Musalia Mudavadi follows his recent trip to Moscow to tackle the issue, where it was agreed that no more Kenyans would be recruited for the war that has exceeded its fourth year.
Under Kenya’s laws it is illegal for the citizens to be conscripted into foreign armies. It is punishable with up to 10-year prison sentence.
The foreign ministry estimates that 252 Kenyans have been illegally conscripted to fight on the front line, a trend that began about six months ago and has also involved recruits from other African countries.
Some Kenyans have said they were lured to fight for Russia with promises of well-paid civilian jobs, only to find themselves forced into fighting in Ukraine – often signing contracts in Russian without understanding what was involved.
“So far 44 Kenyans have been safely repatriated back home while 11 have been reported missing in action/killed in action, 38 are currently hospitalised in various Russian hospitals under restricted access, leaving 160 Kenyans officers still actively involved,” Mudavadi said in a statement.
Mudavadi also negotiated a deal that allowed Kenyans currently on the front line and “unwilling to continue in the assignment disengaged and freed to travel back home”, the foreign ministry said.
Moscow had already agreed to put Kenya on what it called a “stop list” to prevent further recruitment, it said.
Russia has previously insisted that all foreign fighters joined voluntarily ”in full compliance with Russian law”.
Mudavadi said he and his Russian counterpart had agreed to put Kenya on what was called a “stop list” to prevent the further recruitment of Kenyans.
According to Kenya’s foreign ministry, the two countries will begin efforts to “thwart human trafficking, smuggling and illegal recruitment” to the Russian war effort. Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Mudavadi’s trip to meet his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov followed growing public pressure from the relatives of those who had travelled to Russia calling for Kenya’s government to take action.
