The Kenyan government's response to the recruitment of its citizens into the Russian military has raised concerns. Some Kenyans were lured abroad with promises of civilian employment, only to find themselves in military training or facing contracts for military service. The government has invoked Section 68 of the Penal Code, which punishes citizens for joining a foreign armed force without written presidential authority. This law carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison.
An investigation by Journalists for Justice (JFJ) documented accounts from recruits who said they travelled to Russia expecting civilian employment, only to be confronted with military contracts and subsequently sent to fight in the war. The report examined recruitment networks that facilitated the movement of Kenyans to Russia and the response of Kenyan authorities. JFJ's investigation, titled "The Death Contract: How Russia Recruits Africans to Fight and Die in Ukraine," was published in August 2026.
Observers argue that applying Section 68 without distinguishing between those who knowingly join a foreign military and those who were recruited through false job offers risks placing blame on Kenyans who may themselves have been victims of coercion or deception. Kenya's public statements have not treated all recruits as a single category. In February, Parliament heard allegations that Kenyans had been recruited through promises of civilian jobs and, in some cases, forced to sign military contracts after arriving in Russia.
The Kenyan government's position was further complicated in April when Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi stated that intelligence and diplomatic information indicated that some Kenyans had gone to Russia willingly and knowingly signed contracts for logistics or combat roles. He also said that Kenya and Russia had agreed to expedite compensation for those owed money and strengthen information sharing to combat trafficking and misleading recruitment schemes.
JFJ's report draws a distinction between Kenyans who knowingly joined the Russian military and those who say they were deceived or coerced into doing so. The report focuses on the latter group, particularly recruits who were promised civilian jobs before being drawn into Russia's military system. JFJ argues that Section 68 has been applied selectively and documents cases in which Kenyan recruits were allegedly promised civilian employment.
According to JFJ's investigation, some recruits discovered only after arriving in Russia that they were being placed into military training and were presented with contracts written in Russian. JFJ says it reviewed recruitment contracts that did not identify Russia or the Russian military as the destination or employer, alongside Russian military contracts presented after the recruits arrived. The investigation says some recruits interviewed did not understand the contracts or the criminal penalties attached to them.
JFJ's report makes an important accountability argument that if Section 68 was available to the government, it applied not only to people who enlisted but also to those who induced or facilitated foreign enlistment. The law itself expressly covers a person who induces another person to accept engagement in a foreign-armed force.
Key points
- The Kenyan government's application of Section 68 of the Penal Code may pose challenges for compensation of Kenyan victims in Russia's war.
