30/08/2025
๐๐๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ง๐ฒ๐๐ฐ๐ข๐ซ๐: ๐๐ฎ๐ซ๐ข๐๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฒ'๐ฌ ๐๐จ๐ง๐ฌ๐๐ง๐ญ
When five-year-old Margaret Karimi watched her mother leave in 2011, she was told they would one day reunite. Her mother, Catherine Nyawira, was travelling to Saudi Arabia in search of greener pastures, determined to build a better life for her children.
For years, Karimi and her sister clung to that promise. The occasional phone calls, money sent home and stories shared across borders kept hope alive. But this August, that dream was crushed. Nyawira, who had spent 15 years working in Saudi Arabia, died unexpectedly. To the familyโs devastation, she was buried in the Gulf before her body could be repatriated.
Now, her family in Runyenjes, Karuruma village, Embu County, is pleading with the Kenyan and Saudi authorities to intervene, insisting they were denied the dignity of laying their loved one to rest.
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โShe passed away on August 1. We were told that to repatriate the body, we needed to raise Sh450,000 and given 25 days to do so,โ said her father, Damiano Nyaga.
The family began fundraising in earnest, hopeful that once the amount was secured, they would receive Nyawiraโs body at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. But on August 16, barely two weeks later, they received a devastating call: Nyawira had already been buried in Saudi Arabia. โThis was done without our consent. Why, when the 25 days had not lapsed? Nyawira had two children waiting for a mother they had not seen in 15 years. We are pleading with the government to help us. We want to bury our daughter at home,โ Nyaga said.
Nyawiraโs mother, Margaret Nyaga, said the pain was made worse by being denied a final farewell.
The family had travelled to Nairobi on Thursday in anticipation of receiving the body. Back at home in Embu, mourners had gathered, waiting to accord Nyawira her final rites.
โHow will I even accept that my daughter is dead when I cannot see her remains. It is painful and heartbreaking. Please bring my child to me. That is the only way I can find peace, and try to forget about all this,โ she said.
Nyawiraโs sister, Josephine Wanjeru, recounted their constant communication over the years.