The family of a Kenyan househelp in Saudi Arabia, Stella Nafula, is a worried lot following the sudden death of their daughter.
The bereaved family released details of their last phone chat with their daughter before she was proclaimed dead to the press on Saturday, February 19.
Nafula seemed distressed and had given up on life on the call, thanking her brother for attempting to help her from afar.
“Brother, I doubt I’ll survive to see tomorrow, but that’s not an issue. Thank you very much for everything you’ve done for me “Nafula said this during her final conversation with her family.
Mary Wekesa, her mother, revealed that her daughter became ill a month after visiting Saudi Arabia. In August 2021, she arrived in the Middle East.
Wekesa stated that Nafula’s employer told her of her daughter’s sickness but did not provide any medical assistance to her.
“She came to the point where she requested me not to call her,” Wekesa explained to Citizen TV.
The family is now requesting government assistance in relocating her remains, citing the failure of their efforts to contact her agency.
“I advise the Kenyan government to assist young people searching for work abroad to go through the US embassy channel rather than through agents because the latter are shady,” said Ben Sila, a local elder in the area.
After reports of Kenyan employees being abused in Saudi Arabia became widespread, President Uhuru Kenyatta’s administration decided to deploy investigators from the Ministry of Labour to the country to investigate.
Simon Chelugui, Cabinet Secretary for Labour and Social Protection, claimed in mid-October that authorities from both countries had planned a meeting to resolve the contentious problem.
The Secretary General of the Central Organization of Trade Unions (COTU), Francis Atwoli, had previously accused the Ministry of neglecting to protect Kenyans working in Saudi Arabia.
He chastised the administration for standing silent while employees in Saudi Arabia were mistreated.
COTU Secretary General Francis Atwoli holds his Catholic rosary.
