A Kenyan family’s bid for a better life abroad has become the centre of a growing scandal, as Labour Minister Alfred Mutua faces accusations that a government-endorsed jobs scheme in Russia exposed citizens to forced military recruitment and death on the Ukrainian front line.

Relatives of 38-year-old father of three, Erastus Mundia, say he left Kenya under a programme advertised as offering stable, well-paid civilian work in Russia. Mundia believed he was heading to a food-packing factory, lured by promises of about 900 dollars a month and the chance to support his young family.

Photos later shared by Mutua showed the minister smiling alongside Mundia and roughly 20 other recruits at the airport, hailing their departure as a life-changing opportunity. Rights advocates now say those images have become a grim roll call.

According to Kenyan rights group VOCAL Africa and testimonies from families, many of the men who travelled under similar arrangements were allegedly pressured or coerced into signing contracts with the Russian military soon after arrival. Several were reportedly stripped of their passports, given minimal training and dispatched to fight in Ukraine.

Mundia never came home. His mother, Josephine Ngoya, says the state failed in its duty of care and accuses Mutua of misleading desperate jobseekers. She describes learning of her son’s death through informal channels, with no clear explanation from officials about how a promised factory job turned into front-line combat.

Kenyan authorities acknowledge that nearly 300 citizens have been caught up in what they term irregular military recruitment linked to Russia, including at least 19 confirmed dead and 32 missing. However, an intelligence assessment cited by local media suggests the true number of Kenyans drawn into Russian military service could exceed one thousand, raising fears that many deaths remain unreported.

VOCAL Africa has called for an independent inquiry into the labour ministry’s role, demanding full disclosure of any agreements with Russian intermediaries and compensation for affected families. Opposition politicians are pressing for Mutua’s resignation, arguing that the government either failed to vet the programme or turned a blind eye to the risks.

Mutua has defended overseas job schemes as vital for tackling unemployment, but mounting testimonies from bereaved families like the Mundias are intensifying pressure on Nairobi to explain how a promise of work abroad became, for many, a one-way ticket to war.