This archive report was first published on 14 August 2019.
On August 14, 2019, a group of Kenyan Muslims were left stranded in Eastleigh, Nairobi, after a Hajj travel agent, Nur Hassan Abdi, failed to deliver on his promise of taking them to Mecca for the annual Hajj pilgrimage.
Abdi, who operated under the business name 'Ithaf Hajj and Umra Agency,' had convinced over 30 Kenyan pilgrims to part with their money, with some depositing as much as Ksh600,000 ($6,000) into the agency's account.
However, when the day for traveling to Saudi Arabia arrived, Abdi was nowhere to be found, leaving the victims stranded and out of pocket.
According to Ibrahim Mohammed, one of the victims, Abdi had approached him at his home, claiming to run a registered agency that takes people to Hajj.
'At first, I did not believe him so later on it emerged that he did not approach me alone. He was going door to door asking people if they will be willing to go to Hajj this year through his agency,' Mohammed said in an interview with The EastAfrican.
Abdi is alleged to have received over Ksh12 million (about $120,000) from the victims, but instead of using the money to book their flights and accommodations, he is believed to have used it for his own gain.
The Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims (Supkem) has since deregistered Abdi's agency, citing a failure to submit a list of names, payments, or passports of prospective pilgrims for the 2019 Hajj.
