A family in Pombo, Kwanza subcounty in Trans Nzoia, is seeking help to bring back their sick daughter from Saudi Arabia.
The family said Betty Wanjala is currently being housed by a woman who rescued her after her boss threatened to shoot her.
Betty's mother Fenike Onduso said her daughter sent her audio recordings saying, she needs assistance to come back home for specialised treatment.
In one of the recordings in possession of the Star, the 28-year-old narrated how her dreams of improving her life were shuttered.
Betty said things changed from bad to worse after her former boss, told her she had been bought and couldn’t be paid.
Her sister Emma Wanjala said her sister's health had since deteriorated and needed urgent medication.
“My younger sister was battling a cardiac ailment that had left her whole body swollen,” she said.
“She needs specialised treatment in Kenya. Her passport was confiscated and now we need the state's intervention.”
Betty left her home on March 3, 2020, for Saudi Arabia anticipating a job that would free her family from the shackles of poverty.
She said the woman hired her services for two years which were interrupted after she tried pulling the trigger to kill her for demanding her payment.
Betty said she sought refuge inside her former boss's bathroom.
She said the woman who housed her took her for treatment in several medical facilities but stopped due to financial constraints.
“Since am not working, I cannot raise any money for treatment. I am asking Kenyans including President William Ruto to help me come back home,” Betty said.
Emma said the family had tried seeking help in vain.
“Kenyans kindly pray for my sister so that she comes back home alive and not in a coffin,” she said.
Betty said had it not been for the sake of her two children and siblings, she could not have gone to the Gulf seeking greener pastures.
Emma said she contacted a certain who happens to be an agent who recruited her sister to go to Saudi Arabia to intervene but so far there was no help.
Bidii MCA James Mwangi asked President William Ruto to intervene not only in the case of Betty but so many other Kenyan domestic workers who are currently suffering in the Gulf.
He asked for the revocation of all licenses issued to recruiting firms.
Mwangi said that there was a need for leaders to assist the family raise about Sh400,000 needed for Betty to come back home while alive.
“I know her mother cannot raise money for her air ticket back to Kenya and that’s why she has resorted to making appeals to well-wishers,” he said.
Centre for restoration of human rights and democracy executive director Keffa Were who is also Kapomboi ward representative echoed Mwangi's sentiments of revoking the licenses of recruiting agencies.
Edited by Kiilu Damaris
