This archive report was first published on 3 August 2019.
On August 3, 2019, thirteen Kenyan fishermen who had been stranded in war-torn Somalia finally returned home.
The fishermen had been recruited to work aboard a Somali-flagged fishing vessel, Marwan 1, but were abandoned by their employer without food or supplies.
According to Mittau Makau, a bosun on the vessel, their ordeal began from day one. ‘We never knew peace. Right from day one when we embarked on the fishing voyage, things did not add up. We are yet to be paid our four months salary,’ he said.
Makau alleged that their contact person in Mombasa failed to help them when they raised concerns, and that Omar Said Gakuria was assaulted by a relative of the ship owner who later threatened to shoot all Kenyans onboard.
The fishermen had a successful sea fishing voyage, landing a record 275 tons of fish, including 20 tons of prawns. However, they were forced to disembark away from a designated port and put onto a small boat, which was a dangerous sea journey to dry land.
Once on dry land, they endured a nine-hour journey by road in two Land Cruisers through an area inhabited by Al Shabaab militia. They were eventually led to a house that belonged to the ship owner, where they were subjected to inhuman treatment.
The Kenyan ambassador to Somalia, Maj Gen Lucas Tumbo, called and assured them that plans were underway to return them back home. The fishermen were eventually given $500 and $450 each, which they used to purchase air tickets from Garowe International Airport to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.
