United Opposition: Stranded Kenyans in Middle East shouldn’t buy own tickets home
By Mabonga Makhanu, March 7, 2026The United Opposition has stated that no Kenyan citizen trapped in the increasingly volatile Middle East should be required to pay for their own return ticket home.
The coalition’s position was conveyed by its convener, Kalonzo Musyoka, on Saturday, March 7, 2026, amid growing concerns over the safety of Kenyan nationals stranded in the region.
According to the opposition coalition, a large number of Kenyans remain stranded in several Middle Eastern countries under deplorable and life-threatening conditions.
The situation has been worsened by escalating hostilities involving Israel, the United States, and Iran, which, according to Kalonzo, have heightened tensions and created an increasingly dangerous environment for foreign nationals.
The United Opposition expressed deep concern over reports that the Government of Kenya has, in some instances, required stranded citizens to purchase their own return tickets before receiving repatriation assistance.
“A large contingent of Kenyan citizens are stranded in Middle Eastern countries, trapped in deplorable and life-threatening conditions — conditions made all the more perilous by the ongoing escalation of hostilities between Israel and the United States on one side and Iran on the other.”
“We are deeply disturbed by reports that the government of Kenya has, in several instances, demanded that stranded citizens purchase their own return tickets as a condition for repatriation assistance. This is unconscionable and a fundamental dereliction of the state’s duty of care to its citizens abroad.”
The coalition described the move as unacceptable and a serious failure by the state to fulfil its duty of care toward citizens living and working abroad.
Urge to foreign affairs
Kalonzo and the opposition coalition further maintained that the Kenyan government, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the State Department for Diaspora Affairs, and Kenyan diplomatic missions across the Middle East, possesses both the constitutional obligation and the financial capability to organise and fully fund the evacuation of distressed citizens.
The coalition argued that the cost of repatriating stranded Kenyans is minimal compared to the vast amounts of public resources lost through corruption and questionable government expenditure.
In their view, there is no justification for leaving citizens to endure suffering or potential danger abroad simply because they cannot afford airfare back home.
The United Opposition therefore urged the government to immediately organise the safe and dignified return of all Kenyans currently stranded in the Middle East and other affected regions, insisting that the entire evacuation process should be fully funded by the state.
Mudavadi’s remarks
This comes moments after Musalia Mudavadi, who also serves as the Prime Cabinet Secretary and Cabinet Secretary for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs, urged the more than 500,000 Kenyans living in the Middle East to take the next available commercial flights back to the country at their own cost as part of the repatriation process.
Reparatory efforts
He also noted that despite the ongoing volatility in the Middle East, which was triggered by retaliatory attacks launched by Iran following strikes on Tehran by Israel and the United States, no Kenyan citizen had been reported injured in the escalating hostilities so far.
Musalia Mudavadi further maintained that the government continues to closely monitor the situation through its diplomatic missions in the region to ensure the safety of Kenyan nationals living and working in the Middle East.