A 51-year-old man in Mombasa has once again pleaded with the government to secure the release of his wife from bondage in Iraq.
Gilbert Oduor's wife Lucia Nekesa, 40, was trafficked to Iraq in November last year by a local agent who has since cut communication with both Nekesa and her husband.
She was made to believe she was being flown to Qatar for domestic work for a rich family only to find herself in the war-torn Middle East country.
The Star highlighted her plight on August 5, which led to the government contacting Oduor to get information to help secure her freedom.
"Now I'm in the dark. There has been no communication from the government since then," said Oduor on phone on Friday.
The father of five who does odd jobs for a living said he fears for the mother of his children because she has gone quiet for a week now.
"Before the press picked up the story, we were in constant communication. Now she is quiet. I don't know what has happened to her. I am worried," he said.
After the Star report, the Iraqi agent who was managing Nekesa had her released from her latest employer.
The National Employment Authority contacted Oduor to seek details on her plight and to arrange her repatriation to Kenya.
“He sent me text messages that Lucia has been released from her workplace and that her boss does not want her services anymore,” Oduor said.
However, almost three weeks later, the government has gone silent.
Nekesa, according to Oduor, has been shifted to another employer where she is working.
"They are too quiet yet she's facing a hard time there. Only last week, she told me they were taking her back to the office," Oduor said.
Calls to the National Employment Agency to find out the progress of their efforts went unanswered.
Earlier, Nekesa had narrated the suffering she has been subjected to in Iraq. She said she wasbeaten by her employers for ostensibly being lazy.
Her agent in Iraq makes her work for different people.
She said she was sometimes locked up in the bathroom for up to three days with two meals a day.
“They bring breakfast at 1pm and lunch at 5pm while I'm in the bathroom,” she said.
Nekesa’s mother Risper Nafula, 65, said she has been traumatised by her daughter’s ordeal.
