In boxing jargon, the almost four-year Russian-Ukrainian war resembles two punch-drunk boxers locked in a grueling bout—trading blows without the energy or power to deliver a knockout. Both sides, worn down by years of attrition, now struggle to maintain their fighting strength.
This exhaustion partly explains the increasing desperation in both Moscow and Kyiv for fresh recruits. But it also sheds light on a new, disturbing trend emerging in East Africa: the recruitment of Kenyans into the ongoing conflict as soldiers for hire.
Social media platforms in Kenya are awash with images, testimonies, and videos appearing to show Kenyans in Eastern Europe, reportedly enlisted by either side of the war. While the Kenyan government has yet to issue an official statement, the economic strain at home makes the lure of such opportunities dangerously tempting.
Mercenaries, often called “soldiers of fortune,” are professional combatants motivated primarily by financial reward. Unlike volunteers or conscripts, they have no political, religious, or cultural loyalty to the nations they serve. Their allegiance is to the paycheck.
The concept isn’t new. Ancient Egypt’s Pharaoh Ramesses II is believed to have hired over 11,000 Nubian fighters as mercenaries in the 13th century BC. Hannibal’s Punic Wars were fought largely with hired soldiers.
In modern Africa, figures like “Mad” Mike Hoare—whose exploits in the 1960s Congo inspired The Wild Geese—and France’s Bob Denard, immortalized in Frederick Forsyth’s The Dogs of War, became infamous for their roles in postcolonial conflicts. More recently, Eeben Barlow’s Executive Outcomes and Russia’s Wagner Group have become symbols of the privatization of war.
Sources indicate that recruitment in Kenya has been largely informal—carried out by word of mouth and focused on individuals with prior security or military experience.
The recruiters reportedly downplay the risks, claiming the recruits will serve in non-combat logistical roles: cooks, drivers, or warehouse staff stationed away from the frontlines. The word “mercenary” is never used. Instead, promises of generous pay and secure deployment zones are emphasized.
Contracts—often written in foreign languages—are signed without full understanding. Upon arrival, however, the recruits quickly face the grim reality: armed, uniformed, and thrust into combat units under mercenary commanders who soon disappear from the battlefield, leaving the inexperienced recruits to fend for themselves.
International law offers little comfort.
Article 47 of the Geneva Convention states:
“A mercenary shall not have the right to be a combatant or a prisoner of war.”
This clause does not outlaw mercenaries but strips them of combatant protection. If captured, they are treated neither as soldiers nor prisoners of war, but as civilians—often subject to criminal prosecution.
Military analysts predict four possible outcomes if the current recruitment trend continues:
-
The Silent Pipeline: Recruitment continues underground as desperate Kenyans pursue foreign combat pay.
-
Temporary Calm: As long as payments from the war zones remain steady, little public outcry is expected.
-
Crisis Point: Trouble will begin once payments stop or when reports emerge of Kenyans being captured or killed.
-
Public Pressure: Mounting concern will push the government to intervene—demanding repatriation of citizens from the conflict.
The issue calls for urgent attention from relevant state agencies to investigate and assess the scale of foreign recruitment operations targeting Kenyans.
If the government moves to stop the recruitment, few are expected to defy the directive. But for those still tempted by promises of war-zone wages, perhaps a dose of reflection is needed—something echoed in Thomas Hardy’s timeless poem, The Mercenary’s Prayer:
“Lord, I wonder if You’ll ever let me come to You,
Seeing what I’ve been and done.”
As Kenya grapples with unemployment and global instability, the nation stands at a crossroads—between economic desperation and moral restraint, between survival and peril in someone else’s war.
About The Author
