Erastus Mundia left Kenya on a work programme his government had arranged with Russia. He died on the battlefield in Ukraine, and his family holds Labour Minister Alfred Mutua responsible.
Mundia was a 38-year-old father of three when he left in June 2025, one of hundreds of Kenyans promised well-paid civilian jobs in Russia, only to be forced to sign contracts with the Russian army, often at gunpoint.
Most received little military training. Many died on the front lines in Ukraine.
"Since I got the news, I hardly eat. I find myself in a different world," Josephine Ngoya, Mundia's mother, told AFP, holding a portrait of her son at his university graduation.
"I feel like the Kenyan government and Alfred Mutua have betrayed us," she added, speaking from her home in the Kakamega region of western Kenya.
