The director of Global Face Limited was Thursday charged with recruiting Kenyan youths to Russia.
Festus Arasa Omwamba, a 33-year-old, is alleged to have recruited twenty-two Kenyan youths to Russia for exploitation by means of deception.
The Kahawa court heard that on diverse dates between December 1, 2024 and September 24, 2025 at Great Wall Gardens in the Athi River area, Mavoko Sub County within Machakos, with another before the court trafficked by recruiting twenty-two Kenyan nationals to Russia for the purpose of exploitation by means of deception.
He pleaded not guilty to charges before magistrate Gideon Kiage.
Omwamba surrendered himself at the Moyale immigration border point and was arrested on February 25, 2026, booked and escorted by Moyale DCI officers to Isiolo police station, and handed over to TOCU officers.
The prosecuting counsel, Kennedy Amwayi, informed the court that twenty-two victims of human trafficking were rescued on 24th September 2025 at Athi River.
It is alleged that three others who had already travelled to Russia found themselves at the frontline of the Russia-Ukraine war, and they later came back with injuries.
“Your honour, the accused person is a flight risk, and this case has attracted public interest both locally and internationally; therefore, the public demands accountability following the loss of life in Russia,” Amwayi told the court.
The court ordered the accused person to remain in police custody for the hearing of the bond and bail application.
He is believed to have been planning to leave the country through the porous Kenya-Ethiopia border when he was arrested on Wednesday. According to investigators, victims were lured with promises of well-paying jobs abroad.
However, upon arrival in foreign countries, they allegedly found themselves trapped in illegal and hazardous working conditions, stripped of their dignity, rights, and safety. Police say the suspect is believed to be part of a wider criminal network that targets job seekers desperate for overseas opportunities.
Authorities are now pursuing additional leads to identify and apprehend other members of the syndicate.
In just nine months, he has been accused of defrauding desperate jobseekers, attempting to fraudulently obtain money from a dead man’s bank account, and of working as a mercenary who helped recruit at least 1,000 Kenyans into Russia’s military.
Some of the Kenyans have so far been killed in the fighting while others are injured and in hospital.
Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi is expected to fly to Moscow to seek the return of the Kenyans. In between that, the registered United Democratic Alliance member engineered the removal of nominated senator Gloria Orwoba from office, by filing an internal complaint with his party.
The High Court in October dismissed Orwoba’s appeal against a Political Parties Disputes Tribunal decision, which also declined to quash her expulsion from UDA and removal as a nominated senator.
A National Intelligence Service (NIS) dossier read to MPs on February 18, 2026 indicated that a stop order—a directive barring an individual from leaving the country—had been issued against Omwamba for his alleged role in luring Kenyans to their death on the frontlines of the Russia-Ukraine war: Kenya’s spy agency told MPs Omwamba’s firm, Global Face Human Resource Ltd, while operating without a licence from the National Employment Agency worked with unnamed individuals in Moscow to recruit at least 1,000 Kenyans to fight for Russia. The report stated that Omwamba, besides sourcing Kenyans to join the Russian military, facilitated their accommodation, traveling to Moscow and helped the recruits in opening bank accounts.
The signing bonus ranged from Sh910,000 to Sh1.2 million and attracted both police and military veterans. There have been attempts by the authorities to prosecute him for the alleged jobs fraud and recruitment of Kenyans to the war frontline. Some insiders say there is a link between the suspect and some members of the political class who could be linked to the scam.
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