Kenyan Man Takes Legal Action Against Recruitment Firm Over Trafficking Ordeal In Myanmar

     By Lisbeth Micheni, Kenya 

The High Court of Kenya has initiated legal proceedings against an international labour recruitment company following a harrowing experience of being trafficked to Myanmar under false promises of employment.

Duncan Okindo filed the case against Gratify Solutions International and several of its officials, claiming they misled him into believing he was being sent to work in Bangkok, Thailand.

According to court documents, Okindo was instead trafficked into Myanmar, where he was coerced into carrying out online fraud operations under duress.

Okindo recounted that he was transported to Myanmar by boat and forced into what he described as a heavily guarded compound, used for elaborate cybercrime schemes. “I didn’t realise at first that I had been trapped in a scam network because they concealed everything,” he told the court.

The High Court has since issued temporary orders barring Gratify Solutions and its officials from recruiting or sending Kenyan workers abroad, pending the outcome of the case.

The agency and named individuals, Virginia Wacheke Muriithi, Boniface Owino, Ann Njeri Kihara, among others are accused of engaging in deceptive recruitment practices, including promising non-existent jobs and facilitating illegal smuggling.

Okindo’s legal petition describes the company’s activities as forms of human trafficking and modern slavery, violating fundamental human rights.

He alleges that Kenyan youth were lured with attractive job offers, only to be trafficked through Thailand and into Myanmar, where they were exploited by criminal networks.

The case is scheduled to be heard on June 12, 2025, as more victims of similar schemes begin seeking justice for their experiences abroad.