NAIROBI, Kenya, Apr 23 – Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen says the government is mulling the creation of a special anti-human trafficking unit to boost efforts in combating the crime.
Murkomen told a parliamentary committee that the move will ensure stricter enforcement of labour migration regulations so that individuals luring Kenyan nationals with promises of a better future abroad are brought to book.
“Human trafficking is a challenge that requires an all-of-society and multi-agency approach to curb. As a ministry, we have strengthened the fight against this vice and are looking to establish a special anti-human trafficking unit,” he said.
In 2020, an international NGO reported there were between 35,000 and 40,000 victims of sex trafficking in Kenya, including extraterritorial child sexual exploitation and abuse.
“Approximately 19,000 of the victims were children. Most perpetrators are Kenyan and may include government officials, police officers, and local authorities—and, to a lesser extent, foreign tourists,” a 2024 Trafficking in Persons Report indicated.
In 2023, the Organised Crime Index noted that the country was part of a well-used trafficking route from the Horn of Africa to the Arabian Peninsula.
Kenya passed the Counter-Trafficking in Persons Act, which criminalizes human trafficking. However, the Act has been poorly implemented and has had little impact on curbing the crime.
The U.S. State Department’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons placed the country in “Tier 2” in 2017.
It cited that despite Kenya enacting the Counter-Trafficking in Persons Act in 2010, efforts to enforce it remain uncoordinated and lack strong oversight, creating an environment conducive to trafficking.
