Court awards Ksh.5 million to Kenyan student trafficked into Myanmar cyber-scam network

Justice Byram Ongaya on Thursday ruled that Kenyan recruiters trafficked him into a heavily guarded scam compound in Myanmar after escorting him from Nairobi’s JKIA, monitoring him via WhatsApp during the flight, and handing him over to transnational criminal groups at the Thai-Myanmar border.

The court has awarded the young man Ksh. 5 million. He was featured on Citizen TV in April after repatriation when he described his ordeal as slavery, servitude and forced labour.

He was among the 78 Kenyans rescued and repatriated after months of torture in Myanmar’s scam compounds.

A university student who had deferred his studies for what was a well-paying job in Thailand, traffickers in Kenya passed him and others to a coordinated syndicate operating in Bangkok and, eventually, Myanmar.

Gratify Solutions International Ltd, a company registered in October 2024, just two months before it facilitated his travel to Thailand, lists Ann Njeri Kihara and Virginia Wacheke Muriithi as its directors and shareholders.

“My agent was Virginia Muriithi. I paid her a commission of 200,000 and the process was very fast. In two weeks the visa was out. When we arrived it was not good. We were not being paid. Sometimes we were taken to the military and beaten,” said the Myanmar victim.

In Thailand, they were smuggled into scam compounds in Myanmar where they were confined and trained to execute online fraud.

“You go to Instagram and search rich kids in Dubai, those with flashy cars and perfect photos. Those are the people you use as your character,” said the scam victim.

“Inside the compounds they are given targets. For instance, they would be told to meet a target of 5 million US dollars per week and if you don’t, the punishments are very psychological. They lock you up in dark rooms," said Lillian Nyangasi, advocate.

"Sometimes they make you stand on very sharp stones while carrying 20-litre jerrycans of water on your head for up to 24 hours. They feed you on frogs and snakes. Sometimes they put you in very dehumanising circumstances. They are forced into sodomy. They are forced into drugs."

Evidence tabled before court, including M-Pesa transactions and WhatsApp chats, showed Virginia Wacheke, Ann Kihara, and Boniface Owino were all linked to Gratify Solutions International Ltd and liable for human trafficking.

Principal Judge Byram Ongaya found that the petitioner was subjected to slavery, human trafficking, servitude, forced labour, degrading treatment, and that his freedom of movement was infringed upon by the respondents.

The court declared that the petitioner’s rights and freedoms were contravened and grossly violated. It ordered the payment of Ksh.5 million for violation of rights and fundamental freedoms, to be paid by February 1, 2026. The respondents are also to pay costs of the petition.

“They were not compliant with the National Employment Agency requirements for lawfully recruiting and exporting Kenyans for labour,” said Lillian Nyangasi, advocate.

“My plan after compensation is to pay the debts because they are stressing my parent. Once they are cleared, I want to go back to school,” said the scam victim.

Those who were rescued say there are hundreds of Kenyans and Africans who remain trapped in the scam city.