How Alex Mwanza Uncovered the Secret Burials of Kenyans in Saudi Arabia
Alex Mwanza, Director of the International Centre for Policy and Strategy (ICPS), is leading a campaign for stronger protection of Kenyan migrant workers after evidence emerged that several Kenyans who died in Saudi Arabia were buried without their families’ knowledge or consent.
The campaign gained momentum in September 2025 when Mwanza and ICPS researchers visited Madamani village in Kilifi County. They met the family of Jesca Ziro, who had travelled to Riyadh for work but died in unclear circumstances.
During the visit, the team established that Ziro had already been buried in Saudi Arabia without her family’s approval. Contacts within the Kenyan diaspora later confirmed that several other Kenyans had been buried in the same cemetery while their families in Kenya continued to wait for information.
The findings prompted Parliament to examine the matter. In March 2026, the Diaspora Affairs and Migrant Workers Committee summoned government officials to explain how the overseas burials had taken place without authorisation.
The State Department for Diaspora Affairs later confirmed that nine Kenyans, including Ziro, had been buried abroad. The Kenyan Embassy in Riyadh subsequently began the process of exhuming the bodies and arranging their return to Kenya.
Mwanza says the government’s admission highlights wider failures in the protection of Kenyan migrant workers. He has criticised the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and its diplomatic missions for prioritising remittances while families struggle to obtain information about relatives who die overseas.
He said diaspora officials were able to identify Ziro’s burial site and also confirmed that five other Kenyans had been buried in the same cemetery, raising concerns about how such cases are handled. In response, Mwanza has launched a grassroots campaign to improve the protection of migrant workers before they leave Kenya.
He is calling for local education programmes in which chiefs and community leaders inform prospective migrant workers about the risks of working abroad. He also wants recruitment agencies to provide clear contracts that include enforceable welfare protections, emergency procedures and guaranteed repatriation arrangements.
Although remittances make an important contribution to the economy, the deaths of Kenyan workers abroad have exposed weaknesses in the systems designed to protect them. Mwanza argues that economic benefits should be matched by stronger safeguards for citizens working overseas and by proper treatment of those who die while abroad.
As Kenya continues to strengthen its ties with Gulf states, Mwanza is urging the government to ensure that migrant workers receive adequate protection throughout their employment. He says every Kenyan who leaves the country for work should be protected in life and treated with dignity in death.
