NAIROBI, Kenya — The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) has trained 112 Kenya Airways frontline employees to identify, protect and refer victims of human trafficking as part of efforts to strengthen Kenya’s response to trafficking in persons within the aviation sector.
The two-day training, held at the Pride Centre in Nairobi, was organised through the ODPP’s Counter Trafficking in Persons (CTIP) Division under the theme, Combating Trafficking in Persons in the Aviation Sector: Awareness and Response Training for Kenya Airways Frontline Staff.
The programme brought together staff drawn from Kenya Airways’ Travel Documents Unit, Rapid Response, Passenger Services, Investigations, Aviation Security, Cargo Security and Standards departments.
According to the ODPP, the training was designed to enhance the airline’s capacity to detect trafficking indicators, safeguard victims and strengthen reporting and referral mechanisms while supporting criminal investigations.
Principal Prosecution Counsel Brenda Nandwa led sessions on Kenya’s legal framework governing trafficking in persons, investigation procedures, evidence collection, document examination and the role of prosecutors in securing convictions.
She also participated in developing an action plan aimed at strengthening coordination among agencies involved in combating human trafficking.
The ODPP said the training equipped participants with practical skills to identify potential trafficking victims and respond appropriately while performing their frontline duties at airports and other aviation facilities.
The initiative forms part of wider efforts to strengthen multi-agency cooperation in addressing trafficking in persons, a crime that often exploits international travel networks and targets vulnerable individuals.
The training was organised by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and CIVIPOL in partnership with the Government of Kenya under the Better Migration Management (BMM) Programme, which is funded by the European Union and Germany.
It brought together experts from several institutions, including the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), the Counter Trafficking in Persons Secretariat, the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA), the Joint Operations Centre at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, the Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs and other criminal justice stakeholders.
The ODPP said the collaboration is intended to strengthen a coordinated national response to human trafficking by improving information sharing, victim protection and the investigation and prosecution of trafficking offences.