It was a bittersweet moment for a family in Marani village in Kisii County after the body of their kin, who had passed away in Saudi Arabia, two months ago, was finally brought back home on Monday night.
Winfrida Kwamboka is reported to have died on July 8, 2024, but her family could not raise the money required to fly the body back home for interment as well as settle her hospital and mortuary bills.
"We received the remains last night (Monday) at the airport," Mr Stephen Gichana, Ms Kwamboka’s brother, informed Nation.Africa.
The cause of Ms Kwamboka’s death remains a mystery just like those of dozens of Kenyan girls, who have died in Saudi Arabia under unclear circumstances while serving as domestic workers.
A third-born child in her family, Kwamboka is said to have traveled to the Gulf to secure a job to help her care for her child and her dream of becoming a teacher.
Having scored a C+ in the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education exams, Ms Kwamboka was confident of finding a better job that would enable her to extricate her family from the jaws of poverty.
Sofia Bosibori, mother of Winfrida Kwamboka Ontita, who died in Saudi Arabia two months ago.
Photo credit: Ruth Mbula | Nation Media Group
In 2020, the young girl, born and bred in the sleepy village of Marani, took to the skies to begin a new chapter of her life in the Middle East.
“She wanted to join college but lacked school fees. She consulted with me about her intentions to leave Kenya and I agreed to it,” recounted her mother, Sofia Bosibori.
However, four years later, Kwamboka had not achieved much, if the appalling living conditions back home were anything to go by.
Even so, the family did not give up. But their hope was cut short by a call from an anonymous person in July 2024
“My mother received calls from strange numbers. The first caller inquired whether she could converse in English which she responded in the negative. The second caller spoke in Kiswahili. The caller informed her that Kwamboka was dead,” said Mr Gichana.
The family revealed that the Foreign Affairs department had instructed them to raise funds to take care of hospital, mortuary, and cargo fees.
“The embassy is aware of our plight. Someone went to the foreign affairs office. They told us what needed to be done. That hospital bill, mortuary fees, body preparation cost, and cargo flight must be paid for," Mr Gichana told Nation.Africa last week.
Cargo flight fees alone cost the indigent family Sh200,000.
The family was forced to conduct fundraisers for two months straight to raise the rest of the money needed to bring the body back home.
“It’s devastating for the family to bear the loss. She went to fend for her family, and her child and to grow herself. We are in shock,” said Mr Gichana.
Ms Kwamboka has left behind an 11-year-old child, who is in Grade 5.
The family said that they do not have proper details of the agency that took their kin to Saudi Arabia and that the people who linked her up with the agency have since severed communication with them.
“We were very optimistic about her sojourn in Saudi Arabia. That she would get money and come back to join college and support her family. However, it is the sad news of her death that came back,” said Celestine Ontita, Ms Kwamboka’s grandfather.
“It has been two months of mourning and misery and that is already too much,” he remarked amid sobs.
“My family is very poor. We have no means. The means we had is what we invested in her hoping that one day her endeavours would bear fruit.
“We will bury her here at home. She left me a child. The child will equally be asked the whereabouts of the mother. Once buried, I can plant a tree at the graveside for her child to know where the mother is,” said Ms Bosibori.
