A Saudi Arabian Widow has paid owed dues amounting to Saudi Riyals 3600 (Ksh95,000) following the death of a Kenyan domestic worker she hired, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has revealed.
Responding to queries by the Committee on Defence and Foreign Relations, CS Rachelle Omamo on Tuesday, September 15, revealed that the ministry had recovered the money as salary arrears owed to the deceased, Alice Owuor Tindo who died in the Middle Eastern country on June 14, 2020.
Her cause of demise, however, remained unknown. According to the Ministry, Tindo worked as a domestic worker for an elderly widow in Najran City, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia at the time of her death.
"The delay in repatriation of the body is occasioned by the inability of the employer, who is a widow to pay for the repatriation costs (mortuary and air ticket).
"The employer was reported to the police and the case filed at the labour court by the Saudi recruitment agent to secure the dues and repatriation costs for Tindo," a response to the parliamentary committee read in part.
The Embassy officials were able to recover the salary arrears as they assured of working with relevant Saudi authorities to have the remains of the deceased repatriated as quickly as possible.
In a previous interview, the family alleged that prior to her death, Awuor had indicated that she was being mistreated by her employer.
Months into her employment in Saudi Arabia, Awuor's family received news that she was no more. The agent explained that she died in her sleep.
"When we asked if she was sick, they said that she wasn't. They only told us that she slept and never woke up the following day," her mother explained.
Previously, there have been cases of Kenyan women working in Saudi Arabia facing sexual harassment, violence, torture and starvation.
On such cases, the ministry explained that they provided consular services through the embassies for citizens who are in distress abroad.
The government has also put in place measures to protect the rights and welfare of migrant workers which include the vetting, registration and licensing of recruitment agencies in Kenya by a multi-agency team, to regulate and control labour migration.
Kenya has also signed bilateral labour agreements to protect the welfare of Kenyan migrant workers with several Gulf States including Saudi Arabia, UAE and Qatar.
