Republic of Kenya

The regional hub for trade and finance in East Africa, Kenya has been hampered by corruption and by reliance upon several primary goods whose prices have remained low.

In 2006 the World Bank and IMF delayed loans pending action by the government on corruption. The international financial institutions and donors have since resumed lending, despite little action on the government's part to deal with corruption. Post-election violence in early 2008, coupled with the effects of the global financial crisis on remittance and exports, reduced GDP growth to 2.2% in 2008, down from 7% the previous year.  [The World Factbook, U.S.C.I.A. 2009]

Human trafficking and modern day slavery KENYA   [Extracted from U.S. State Dept Trafficking in Persons Report, June 2009]

Kenya is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation. Kenyan children are trafficked within the country for domestic servitude, forced labor in agriculture (including on flower plantations), cattle herding, in bars, and for commercial sexual exploitation, including involvement in the coastal sex tourism industry. In 2008, internally displaced persons residing in camps as a result of post-election violence reportedly were trafficked within the country. Kenyan men, women, and children are trafficked to the Middle East, other East African nations, and Europe for domestic servitude, exploitation in massage parlors and brothels, and forced manual labor, including in the construction industry. Employment agencies facilitate and profit from the trafficking of Kenyan nationals to Middle Eastern nations, notably Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Lebanon. Children are trafficked to Kenya from Burundi, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Somalia, Tanzania, and Uganda for forced labor and commercial sexual exploitation. Most trafficked girls are forced to work as barmaids, where they are vulnerable to sexual exploitation, or are forced directly into prostitution. Ethiopian and Somali refugees residing in camps and Nairobi’s Eastleigh section are particularly vulnerable to trafficking. Chinese, Indian, and Pakistani women reportedly transit Nairobi en route to exploitation in Europe’s commercial sex trade.