A family from Karurumo Village in Runyenjes Constituency, Embu County, is seeking for assistance from the Government and well-wishers to bring back the remains of their kin who died in Saudi Arabia a week ago.
The family received news of the death of Catherine Wawira, 45, via a phone call from Saudi Arabia on 1st August where she has been working since 2011.
The family has so far not been able to make any meaningful progress in repatriating her body home as they are not able to meet logistical costs involved including air transport.
It is a race against time for the distraught family as they have been given up to August 25 to have repatriated her remains or else her body will be interred locally in Saudi Arabia where the death occurred.
Family and friends are yet to come to terms with the loss and more so the possibility of her being buried in foreign country owing to the family’s financial handicap.
Her mother, Margaret Nyaga, wailed uncontrollably as she pleaded with the Government and people of goodwill to assist them bring her body back home.
“She left here 14 years ago in search of a good life and now that it has come to this, all we can ask of is to be assisted in having her body brought back home and buried at her place of birth,” she pleaded.
Her father Damiano Nyaga said they have a huge burden ahead of them of not only facilitating her burial but also taking care of the two children she has left behind and grandchildren.
“As we speak, we have less than three weeks to bring her body back home and that is why we are appealing to well-wishers to come through for us before it is too late,” he said.
Another relative, Alvis Karimi, said they had written to the Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs seeking assistance to have her body flown back to the country, but are yet to receive any response.
She lamented that burial arrangements have been thrown in disarray as mourners who have been flocking the home have given up after learning of the daunting task of bringing the body back home.
She reported that the deceased had been ailing for some time and had gone to India for specialized treatment over undisclosed ailment.
She said she was in the process of coming back home when her health deteriorated.
By Samuel Maina
