Kenyan Nurse in Saudi Arabia Goes Viral for Exposing Abusive Work Conditions in Viral X Thread

Country: Saudi Arabia
Date Published: November 28, 2025

A Kenyan nurse working in Saudi Arabia has sparked a heated online debate after posting a detailed X thread exposing alleged abusive working conditions, unpaid overtime, and passport confiscation by her employer. The thread, shared by @MercyNjorogeKE—a verified Kenyan diaspora influencer with over 50K followers—quickly went viral on November 28, 2025, amassing over 10,000 reposts and 25,000 likes within hours. Mercy detailed her 18-hour shifts without breaks, threats of deportation, and how her employer withheld her passport, preventing her from leaving the country. "Fellow Kenyans in KSA, enough is enough. They treat us like slaves. My salary for 3 months? Zero. Help me share," she wrote in the opening tweet, which ignited responses from thousands of users.

The post tapped into long-simmering frustrations among Kenya's diaspora in the Gulf states, where thousands of nurses, domestic workers, and laborers from Kenya seek better opportunities. Replies flooded in from other Kenyans abroad, including @KenyanInDubai, a regular user who shared similar stories of exploitation, and news account @CitizenTVKE, which reposted the thread with a call for government intervention. "This is modern slavery. Kenyan gov't, where are you?" tweeted @WanjikuAbroad, whose comment received 2K likes. Positive notes emerged too, with some users praising Mercy's bravery and organizing a #JusticeForMercyKSA hashtag that trended in Kenya, garnering support from MPs like @DennisWanjikuMP who promised to raise the issue in parliament.

Mercy's story drew contrasting reactions: while many expressed solidarity—such as influencer @Size8realtalk, who donated publicly via M-Pesa and urged followers to do the same—others criticized her for "airing dirty laundry" publicly. Saudi-based Kenyan accounts like @GulfKenyan warned that such posts could lead to mass deportations, referencing past crackdowns. The thread also highlighted systemic issues, with data shared in replies from @DiasporaWatchKE showing over 5,000 Kenyans repatriated from Saudi Arabia in the past year due to labor disputes. Discussions evolved into broader talks on remittances, with users noting that exploited workers send billions back home despite hardships.

As of December 2, 2025, Mercy's account remains active, updating followers on negotiations with her employer facilitated by the Kenyan embassy in Riyadh. The incident has prompted Foreign Affairs CS @MusaliaMudavadi to acknowledge the thread in a statement, promising investigations. X users continue to debate, with viral videos of protests outside the Saudi embassy in Nairobi circulating. This case underscores the double-edged sword of diaspora life: economic opportunities abroad clashing with vulnerability to exploitation, fueling calls for better bilateral protections.