Sonko flies home bodies of three Kenyan women who died in Saudi Arabia

Sonko said on Twitter early Tuesday that the bodies had been received by family members at the JKIA and would be transported to the nearest mortuaries.

Among the bodies received by kin was Lucy Kea, who had moved to Saudi Arabia in search of greener pastures from her home in Mtwapa. 

Her body arrived in Nairobi on Tuesday and was transferred to Mombasa's Jocham Hospital Mortuary before being interred in Mzambarauni, Mtwapa.

The rescue team also helped repatriate the bodies of Mercy Mbula and Jackline Muthomi. The two had moved to Saudi Arabia from Kangundo and Imenti South respectively. 

“Since I have promised to assist the families to the very end, @SonkoRescueTeam transported the bodies together with the family members that came to pick them to the respective mortuaries near their homes, where we'll be taking care of the bills as they await burial ceremonies...” the former governor said in part. 

Incidents of Kenyan women dying while working in the Gulf country are common place, with Foreign and Diaspora Affairs Cabinet Secretary (CS) Dr. Alfred Mutua attributing the plight of migrant workers to unstreamlined recruitment agencies in Kenya. 

At the moment,  Kenya and Saudi Arabia have okayed the formation of a hotline that Kenyan workers can call to air their grievances and report any instances of abuse.

"The emergency hotline number at the Kenyan Embassy in Riyadh is +966500755060. On receiving a call, we will take prompt action, including but not limited to engaging the Saudi Government for their assistance: the idea is to ensure every Kenyan works and lives a fulfilling life," he said.

The hotline is among a slew of proposals that the government hopes will make it easier and better for Kenyans to relate and work in Saudi Arabia. 

"We have agreed to work on a modality to get Kenyan labour agencies to have offices in Saudi Arabia to deal with issues concerning their clients. We will, in collaboration with the Saudi Government, flush out illegal agencies and also blacklist agencies that do not perform as per the law," CS Mutua said after meeting his Ministry of Foreign Affairs counterpart Faisal Bin Farhan Al-Saud in Riyadh early November