At least 316 Kenyans have died in Gulf states since 2002

Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi. [Denis Kibuchi,Standard]

Prime Cabinet Secretary and CS of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs Musalia Mudavadi has revealed that at least three hundred and sixteen (316) Kenyans have died in Gulf States since 2002.

Appearing before the Senate on Wednesday, July 10, Mudavadi detailed the death toll across various Gulf countries as being 166 in Saudi Arabia, 58 in Qatar, 51 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), 25 in Iraq, 10 in Bahrain, and six Kenyans in Kuwait. Oman and Iran reported no deaths.

The Foreign Affairs CS explained his ministry's support procedures for families who have lost loved ones overseas. 

“The ministry is in touch with employers, local and foreign recruitment agents to gather information about the deceased and their next of kin,” he told Senate. 

“The ministry also follows up on work benefits and conducts post-mortems and police investigations to determine the cause of death.” 

Mudavadi also noted that approximately 416,548 Kenyans are currently working in the Gulf states. 

Saudi Arabia hosts the majority, with 310,266 workers, followed by Qatar with 66,025, and the UAE with 23,000. 

Smaller numbers of Kenyans work in Bahrain (8,000), Oman (5,392), Kuwait (3,515), Iran (200), and Iraq (150).

“Kenyan workers in these territories exhibit high mobility between various states. The numbers provided are periodic statistics derived from our missions in these countries and corroborated by official sources of the host governments,” he noted.

He acknowledged that the government faces challenges in maintaining accurate records, as not all Kenyans register with the missions abroad despite being encouraged to do so.