Another Death Of Kenyan In The Gulf As Family Hit With Double Tragedy
A Kisumu family is grieving after the deaths of two relatives in a single week.
This comes after their daughter died abroad, and her namesake, a grandmother, also died upon learning of her kin’s death.
Mary Awonda, a 30-year-old woman, traveled to Qatar in search of greener pastures, only for her family to learn of her death less than a week later.
According to the family, they were informed that their daughter, a graduate in Hotel Management who had accepted a friend’s invitation, died as a result of electrocution even before receiving her first salary in the Gulf nation.
“According to the postmortem report we received, it stated that she died of electrocution only as the final result and not the procedure followed in arriving at that,” Joshua Otieno, a brother to the deceased, told the media.
Mary, a mother of two, reportedly left the country on July 4, 2024, to work as a domestic worker in a private home.
“The work that she got is one that she had been asking for from friends as a domestic worker and when she got the offer, the salary was enticing and she said she could not turn it down,” her mother, Grace Awuonda, recounted.
When the grandmother learned of the death, she reportedly had a heart attack and died as a result.
“When Mary died, there is a grandmother whom she was named after and when she got the tragic news she had a heart attack and died and as we speak we have two burials,” Pamela Alago, an aunt, revealed.
Awuonda’s body was flown to Kenya on August 19, 2024, but the family has been unable to raise funds for an independent postmortem to confirm Mary’s death.
They are now faced with the difficult task of resting two members of the family, hoping that justice will be served in the end.
Following the increase in local unemployment, many Kenyans have moved to Gulf countries in search of work, primarily as domestic workers.
However, recent reports indicate that the number of deaths and injuries in host countries is increasing due to mysterious circumstances.
Musalia Mudavadi, Prime Cabinet Secretary and Chief of Staff for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs, revealed before the Senate plenary on July 10, 2024, that at least 316 Kenyans have died while working in the Gulf States since 2022.
“The records we have show that the total number of Kenyans who have lost their lives in the Gulf region is 316,” he noted.
Saudi Arabia had 166 deaths, Qatar had 58, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) had 51, Iraq had 25, Bahrain had 10, and Kuwait had six, while Oman and Iran had no deaths.
Another Death Of Kenyan In The Gulf As Family Hit With Double Tragedy
