Kenya Stockholm Blog

Details About The Departed Kenyan Brother Just Emerging

Details about a Kenyan who passed away mysteriously in an Apartment in Stockholm are just beginning to emerge. Since the news broke out last week that a Kenyan had passed away in Stockholm, KSB has been on the trail to follow the story to establish what may have happened.

The late David Acquinas Kashitoshito: Great future of hope and expectation cut short by the cruel hands of death which has robbed the Kenyan community of a real potential

According to details gathered so far, the late Kenyan is called David Acquinas Kashitoshito and he arrived in Sweden two years ago to pursue a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering. He was 30 years old and, at the time of his death, he was living in an apartment block in Täby, a few km from Stockholm city.

KSB has learnt that Acquinas was not living alone in the apartment but had teamed up with other students from Kenya who were all pursuing their Masters degrees at KTH (The Kings College). It has emerged that numerous Kenyan students are studying at KTH with latest five students having joined the Institution in September this year.

It is not possible to say exactly what killed Kashitoshito because investigations are still continuing after which the Swedish authorities will release an autopsy report. But through a trail of information which KSB has been able to gather, the last moments of Kashitoshito have roughly been pieced together.

Kashitoshito attended a birthday Party of a Kenyan child in Vällingby last Tuesday where he slept over. Before then, he was at the residence of a Kenyan who received a baby recently and he was there as part of the crowd which had called to say hi to the baby. “He was one of the people who carried the baby and he looked very happy”, a source told KSB.

On Wednesday (the following day), Kashitoshito went to town with a Kenyan contact. Throughout Wednesday during day time, the trail of Kashitoshito fades away but that same night, KSB has gathered that he was in his apartment where he was working on a Project on his laptop.

A fellow student at KTH was one of his companions and the two stayed together until past 2.00 hrs ie the early hours of Thursday morning. The friend was leaving for school very early in the morning so he left Kashitoshito in his room to continue working on his Project. That same Thursday morning, the friend left for school, assuming that Kashitoshito was still asleep. He never woke him up because he did not want to disturb him.

That same Thursday, there was a Kenyan whom Kashitoshito knew and who was travelling to Kenya. The traveler had made arrangements with Kashitotshito who had purchased some items which he wanted to send to family members back in Kenya. However, on the material day, Kashitotshito did not turn up at the airport as had been expected by friends although his absence was not a big deal because the thinking among friends was that something might have tied him up. It is during this period that friends believe that Kashitoshito was already lying dead on his bed.

“THE LORD IS MY SHEPHARD”
Suspicions began to grow when a friend in the same apartment began to wonder why Kashitoshito was not taking his phone which kept on ringing. That was deep into the night or on Friday at around 4.00 hrs in the morning. Convinced that something was amiss, the friend went to Kashitoshito’s room to find out what the problem could be.

When he tried to wake him up, he seemed not to have been responding so he began to shake him even more vigorously but still, there was no response. At this point, the friend decided to call the apartment owner who arrived in a few minutes. After further attempts to wake Kashitoshito up failed, those who were there began to panic.

In the meantime, one of the friends called a Kenyan family which had hosted a birthday Party which Kashitoshito attended last Tuesday to inform them that the Kenyan was not responding to attempts to wake him up. On hearing the news, the family rushed to the apartment immediately and to their shock, Kashitoshito could not rise up. Deep anxiety began to take over.

After understanding the nature of the situation, the house owner suggested that they call an ambulance which arrived in a few minutes but after the ambulance crew examined Kashitoshito, they said that it looked like he was dead.

It was at this point when the Ambulance team called police to come and begin investigations into the case. As per the Swedish law, the Ambulance crew could not touch Kashitoshito further once they confirmed that he was lifeless because then, the case had to advance into an investigation that could only be conducted by the police.

The police did arrive and after they finished their investigation at the scene, the body was transported to a nearby mortuary where it is awaiting for an autopsy to establish the cause of death. A member of the Kenyan family who was at the scene and who was reached by KSB said that “it was the saddest moment” in her life as she could not believe that Kashitoshito, whom she had been together with only two days earlier, appear to have died.

The reality that Kashitoshito was dead began to sink into the consciousness of those who knew him and as news about his death began to spread, grief engulfed the student’s fraternity at KTH and all those who knew him.

Kenyans who know him have told KSB that he was a very happy person, energetic, healthy and very religious. He looked a promising young man who had great ambitions which have now been cut short by the hands of death. On his table was a note with an inscription of Psalm 23 which says “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want”.

Kenyans, friends and well-wishers will meet on Friday, November 7th at Björnbodavägen 57 at Vällingby from 16.00 hrs to discuss how to raise funds for the transportation of Kashitoshio’s body to Kenya for burial. Further information can be obtained by calling: 0730228649.

KSB sends deep condolences to the family of the departed. We hope that they will have the courage to go through this very difficult moment of great shock and sorrow.

Okoth Osewe

November 3, 2008 Posted by makozewe | In Memorium | 4 Comments