The Employment and Labour Relations Court has ordered a recruitment agent and her agency to pay Ksh5 million in compensation to a victim of human trafficking who was fraudulently sent to Myanmar for work.
In a ruling delivered on Thursday, November 20, 2025, Justice Bayram Ongaya found recruitment agent Virginia Wacheke, Gratify Solutions International Ltd, and two other respondents guilty of human trafficking and related offenses.
The court declared that the victim, who was deceived into traveling to Myanmar under the guise of legitimate employment, was subjected to slavery, human trafficking, servitude, forced or compulsory labor, and inhuman and degrading treatment at the hands of the respondents.
Justice Ongaya further determined that the petitioner's freedom of movement had been unlawfully restricted, constituting a gross violation of his fundamental rights and freedoms as enshrined in the Constitution.
The respondents have been ordered to pay the Ksh5 million compensation by February 1, 2026, failing which the amount will attract interest at court rates until full settlement is made.
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The petitioner's advocate, Ms Lillian Nyangasi, celebrated the judgment as a groundbreaking milestone, describing it as the first known Kenyan court decision involving a victim trafficked to Myanmar for labor exploitation and forced criminality.
In another case of courts ordering compensation for rights violations, lawyer Donald Kipkorir recently announced that the High Court awarded him Ksh1 million in damages in a constitutional case against Muthaiga Country Club.
In a statement on November 7, Kipkorir said Justice Chacha Mwita vindicated his claim that the club had violated his constitutional rights when it denied him entry. The court found the club's actions unlawful and reaffirmed the right of invited guests to access such institutions.
"Justice Chacha Mwita, who is one of our finest Judges in mind and character, held that MCC violated my constitutional rights and that they can't refuse me entry if I am invited by a member," Kipkorir stated.
He expressed gratitude to his lawyer, Peter Wanyama, for the excellent constitutional litigation, adding, "The judge awarded me Ksh1 million in damages plus legal costs."
