Grieving family in Kisii seeking government support to retrieve daughter's body held in Lebanon. (Photo Courtesy/Citizen Digital).
By Daisy Okiring
A family from Riosugo Village in Bobasi Constituency, Kisii County, is pleading with the government to help repatriate the body of their daughter, Emily Nyamoita Nyabuto, who died nearly a month ago in Lebanon under mysterious circumstances.
Emily had travelled to Lebanon in 2023 seeking better job opportunities. She was expected to return to Kenya in June 2025, but her family instead received the devastating news of her death. Since then, her body has remained in a Beirut mortuary as the repatriation process proves too expensive and complicated for the family to manage on their own.
According to Lebanese immigration officials, several formalities and fees are required before her remains can be returned to Kenya. These include ambulance costs, storage fees at Hariri Hospital, and an official forensic report. The translation and legalisation of her death certificate, religious preparations like washing and shrouding, embalming, and quarantine procedures are also mandatory.
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Additionally, the body must be sealed in a white cloth, wrapped in nylon, and placed in a specially approved coffin suitable for airline travel. Final authorisation from Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health and the Immigration Directorate is also required, along with the sealing of the coffin with red wax.
Her grieving mother, Janes Mokeira, recounted their last phone conversation. “She was coming home. I spoke to her on the 14th. Then a friend called to say she had died. Even her sister has been hospitalised from the shock,” she shared.
Emily was the family’s breadwinner, and her sudden death has left them emotionally and financially devastated. The family is appealing to the Kenyan government and well-wishers to assist in covering the repatriation expenses and bring Emily home for burial.
With no clear timeline for returning her body, the family remains in limbo, unable to mourn or find closure.
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