I was held at gun point- Faith Murunga narrates horrifying ordeal in Saudi Arabia on JKL

On Wednesday, Faith Murunga and Lorna Cherop narrated the nightmares they went through while working as domestic workers in Saudi Arabia, leaving the Ministry of Labour under CS Simon Chelugui exposed.

Faith Murunga who jetted back in the country mid-last year after escaping from her bosses house, said that she went through hell and given a chance she will never go back to Saudi Arabia.

She said that Kenyans in Saudi Arabia are always mistreated and subjected to poor pay, despite being promised heaven by agencies that take them there.

She recounted being held at gun point by her Boss, forcing her to confess that she burned herself with Hot water, after she wanted to quit her job over mistreatment.

Gun Point

“At some point I thought I would die. My boss in Saudi Arabia poured hot water on my arm and that's why I have this burn. I know many Kenyans who have died in Saudi Arabia. If the gov't does not take action many more will die”

“I went through hell. One time I was beaten so bad after my boss asked me to bring a cup and I brought a spoon yet I didn't understand the language. I used to have one meal in a day and that is strong tea" she said.

Ms Murunga added that Kenyans in Saudi Arabia and other middle East Countries never get help from the Kenyan government.

No Help

“I got no support from any Kenyan official in Saudi Arabia. I called one Embassy guy and they used vulgar language akaniambia you are a girl enda ufanye ile kitu wenzako wanaeza fanya ndio ufanye kazi... lala na boss yako ndio ufanye kazi" said Faith Murunga.

Faith noted that: “As a house maid in Saudi Arabia you make between Sh.23K to Sh.28K per month…It's unfortunate we have lost lives in Saudi Arabia... but we are appealing on Kenyans going there to follow the protocols we have set up and work with licensed agencies.

“I want to tell the Labour CS Chelugui Nelson Mike Mithamo Muriuki is the one doing a lot of work for Kenyan girls in Saudi Arabia. He is the one who paid my for flight back home”.

Lorna's Narration

On the other hand, Lorna Jerop said that she was lucky to have been attached to a good boss while in Saudi Arabia, but asked CS Chelugui to up his game and help Kenyans being mistreated and even killed in Saudi.

At some point, Cherop told CS Chelugui that he can’t handle the Labour Ministry and he should consider vacating it for someone more competent.

“Bwana CS Chelugui vile nakuona hii Saudi Arabia huezani nayo.. acha tuseme tu Ukweli tuongeze watu kwa ground”

“Kenyan Embassy guys in Saudi Arabia are doing nothing. If someone dies there, the girls contribute among themselves to have their colleague returned to Kenya. A guy called Mwana wa Mary has been helping Kenyans. He was arrested in February” said Cherop.

Response

Defending his Ministry, CS Chelugui said that the government acknowledges the challenges Kenyans in Saudi Arabia go through.

“As gov't we acknowledge the challenges being faced by our people seeking livelihoods in the Middle East. We negotiated our existing bilateral labour agreement. I intend to visit Saudi Arabia possibly within the next 30 days”

“We have about 97,000 Kenyans in Saudi Arabia. Over 200 Kenyans are on deportation or transit back home driven by different factors. Some have run away from their previous contracts and they have been reported to the authorities"

CS Chelugui added that in the past three years, 97 Kenyans have died while in Saudi Arabia.

"97 Kenyans have died in Saudi Arabia in the last three years and some were not related to employment. We will be following up on the postmortem reports we were given by authorities in Saudi Arabia” posed CS Chelugui.