The Kenyan Embassy in Stockholm is unable to trace relatives of the late Boniface Gacheru who was found dead in his apartment in September. After news about Mr. Gacheru’s death was broken, KSB contacted Mr. Aurther Andambi, the First Secretary, and requested that the Embassy track down Mr. Gacheru’s relatives in Kenya through government machinery to prevent Gacheru’s body from being buried in Sweden without the knowledge of his relatives.
Contacts with the Embassy was made after KSB learnt from Linda Magnusson, an Official of Isacsons Funeral Company handling Gacheru’s body, that the Company was planning a requiem mass for Gacheru on December 1st. According to an advert placed by the Company in “Mitt I Botkyrka Salem” Weekly newspaper, Gacheru was also scheduled to be buried after the Mass whose kick-off time was fixed at 11.00hrs.
After KSB alerted the Company about Gacheru’s circumstances, the Company accepted to put Gacheru’s burial on ice until further information about his relatives could be obtained. The Company had contacted the Swedish embassy in Nairobi to try and track down Gacheru’s relatives but at the time the story was reported at KSB, no word had come from the Swedish embassy.
KSB contacted the Kenyan Embassy in Stockholm for help because the Embassy is the official representative of the Kenyan government that could help solve the puzzle about the whereabouts of Mr. Gacheru’s relatives.
According to Mr. Andambi who spoke to this writer, the Embassy could not help because the Mission does not know where to start the investigations. When prompted that the Embassy could start by contacting the Immigration department in Nairobi to check Mr. Gacheru’s name on the records since he was a Kenyan Passport holder, Mr. Andambi said that there could be many Kenyans with such names and that following their backgrounds could be difficult.
The risk now is that without further information about the late Gacheru’s relatives, he will be buried in Sweden without the knowledge of his relatives in Kenya.
Another problem is that members of the Kenyan community do not appear to be bothered with the case because many of them did not know Gacheru in person since the late Kenyan never mingled with his fellow Kenyans. Majority of Kenyans who have been contacted by KSB are on a “wait and see” posture.
Kenya Embassy should live up to expectation
In Sweden, the body can only be kept for a maximum of 3 months after which it will begin to attract mortuary charges of approximately 30.000 Kenyan shillings per day. If there is no one who can sort out the bill or if there is no legal reason why it should not be disposed of, the body will be interred. In the absence of Gacheru’s relatives, and with the lackadaisical attitude of Kenyans towards the circumstances, it is most likely that the body will go down without much ado.
We appeal to the Kenyan Embassy not to allow Mr. Gacheru to be buried in Sweden because it is known that he came from Nyeri and even if many names emerge during a search at the Immigration, the names can be narrowed down to investigate names that can be linked to Nyeri. It is known that Gacheru was 67 years old at the time of his death and this can also help in narrowing down any similar names which may be in the Immigration department’s data base.
The Kenyan Embassy in Stockholm has failed Kenyans on many fronts and it will be very unfortunate if Mr. Gacheru is buried in Sweden without the knowledge or consent of his family members back home simply because of the inexcusable reason that these relatives cannot be traced by the only government agency in Scandinavia.
If the late Gacheru was not a Kenyan passport holder at the time of his death, the Embassy’s position could be understable. Through links with the Swedish authorities, KSB has confirmed to the Embassy that Gacheru never surrendered his citizenship while according to the Funeral agency, he never left any known will to be buried in Sweden.
KSB has also furnished the Embassy with the name and telephone number of a key Swedish State official dealing with Mr. Gacheru’s terminal benefits to be paid to his relatives since he has been in gainful employment throughout his active life. If his relatives cannot be traced, these benefits will be confiscated by the Swedish State as per the Swedish laws dealing with unclaimed benefits of dead persons.
The Embassy has to live up to expectation and Ambassador Purity Muhindi needs to chip in because at the end of the day, it is her tattered reputation which will further go down the drain if her Office fails to trace Gacheru’s relatives in Kenya using flimsy excuses. Already, KSB has done a lot of ground work which ought to have been done by the Embassy. The Mission should therefore not abdicate its responsibility by failing to intervene on behalf of Mr. Gacheru’s relatives who have every right to participate in his funeral and for Gacheru who has a right to be buried in Kenya, his motherland.
Okoth Osewe
About the Author
How did the Kenya Embassy contacted Bonface Mutahis Family?
Did the embassy contacted the Ministry of Foreign Affairs?
Mutahi had a Kenyan Pass/port issued by the Kenya Government?
We the Kenyans who cares has not herd any annoicement in UHURU Kenyattas Kameme FM Radio that annoices the mames of dead or missing Kenyans!
Has the Embassy contacted the Pc(provincial Commissioner of Central Province?
The DC (district Commissioner/DO(the divisional Officer) Chief or Headman or A Councillor from Boniface Village in Tetu?
The Kenya Embassy in Stockholm is known to be Anti-Kenyan People who doesnt support the Corrup Kenya Government!
Mr Osewe can you arrange a crisis Meeting with the Kenya Embassy In Stockholm AS quickly as possible.
There are many newspapers in Kenya namely Daily Nation,Stardarnd,A Swahili newspaper ,The people,the Star plus hundrends of Bloggs has Kenya Embassy contacted one of named medias?
When One applies a Pass/port One hasd to supply enough information of where he/she commes from eg: Location/sub-Location (Clan (Muhiriga) in Kikuyu hence Kenya has more than 42 tribes.
There is a Chief/sub chief who is the govt representative in every Village /Location and sub location.
A councillor and security commitees.
does it mean Mr Boniface didnt have a brother/syster/Uncle/aunt and relatives?
The Kenya Embassy staff should stop playing with Kenyas intelligence.
time for ending Impunity and arrogacy in Kenya is now!
Osewe you have done your bit and the Embassy should have done more given its abundant resources. Narrowing the search down to one Gacheru who came to Sweden would have been the easiest way of reaching his relatives.It’s a shame that Kenyans have yet again to bear with Purity’s inhumane nature. Andambi should have used Gacheru’s case to redeem their tainted image.
Let Mr. Aurther Andambi Of the Embassy be told by Kikuyu Community in Stockhol that We are intelligent People and has channels back home !
One of these days The Embassy staff and mr Athur Andambi will know that our intelligence is superb and very soon we shall have in Contact with Mutahis family
Using our intelligence network without going through a failed and rejected weak Kenya govt led by corrupt anti-Kenyan people that is bulldozing houses and creating more poverty in Kenya-
Osewe, your site is fond of attacking Purity Muhindi, no matter what she does, its all shit to you. Purity is not every kenyan keeper. If you took her seat, you would not survive on it for 2 days. Stop the attacks and help where you can to search for the relatives you are talking about. Running an embassy is not like running a village kiosk.
KSB: Jane: Kenya Embassy is not a local boma in town but the representative of the Kenyan government. Purity is a public officer who must be brought to account especially on critical issues. If the Embassy cannot trace yr reles in Kenya when you are dead meat in Stockholm and when you are a Kenyan passport holder, then Purity is not worth holding that office. Stop the village mentality which leads you to think that the Embassy is a local manyatta with Purity as Mama ya boma. If Purity is yr mother, you could have a point though.
The inefficiency at the Kenyan Embassy,Stockholm is at a gruesome extent.Last year while I lived in Oslo,NORWAY,hundreds of mails I wrote to the Kenyan mission were ignored,and I was forced to travel to Stockholm to undertake a very simple exercise.Worse still,I was told that the embassy had no records of a very simple information I needed,Makes U wonder what’s their work!!I understand the inefficiency at,for example Jogoo House,Nairobi,but the Kenyan Embassy is an office that is expected to serve Kenyans residents in Scandinavia,can’t they learn from hoe Swedish offices work,for crying out loud!!!IT IS EVIDENT that there were no 50 Boniface Gacheru’s who moved to Sweden,why should it be soo hard to track his family???They could atleast give it a try,I mean,can’t they just do something worth for once!!!!!!!!
l agree with #3 and #6.How many Gacherus from nyeri came to study in europe those days.Call( KAMEME FM) and announce the news and the goverment should pay for it..Do something kenya embassy.
@Jane: Osewe is the one who posted the death of Gacheru openly to Wakenya. Secondly, he contacted the Embassy about it, to search for his relatives in Kenya. Thirdly, he has now reported back that the Embassy has not done any search.
Now you, what have you done to reach his relatives? I don’t see any attack on Purity here except Osewe questioning why they could not use all the avenues offered to get the relatives.
Jane achana na Osewe. What have u done in this case?
Bwana Osewe, I know this kind of talk makes your site more juicy, attacking Purity and all that, with many idlers who have nothing else to do. Keep it up with your cheap gossipping site.
KSB: Sawa. I close my case then and have a nice weekend.
Wakenya Mnjini Stocko ni Mashizi(SHIZOPHRENI) kama huyu Jane abazo hakiri zake ni cha kitoto cha Swedish Dagis barn.
Hi Riaga Rokoko, bad swahili makes me throw up. sio ABAZO HAKIRI, ni ambazo hakili……. Get my point Riaga.
Jane ndio idler coz kama amechanuka why come to attack about others at KSB? She can’t even pick on what she calls gossip. tells u how her mind works – negative thinking.
Jane might be Andembo (Man) who carries Purity Wakiurus hand-bag.A nutcase .
jane can u be a better ambassador? At least we see what Osewe does.
Hi Kafiri, your name sums up for me, good day Mr. Kafiri.
Purity Muhindi has been a failure as an Ambassador in Scandinavia .Puritry Wakiuru would has Perfoprmed better as Lucy Kibakis Maid.
jane is being idle throwing tantrums and calling others names. The person is as fake as the name. This is a nutcase at the embassy misusing taxpayer money writing nonsense. an evil mind- this person. Am convinced the person is Andambi given the language used. A very anti-social man! eti anasali kumbe shetani mwenyewe.
I simply do not understand that relatives are not yet found. Its said that this man was living in alby, people like muirani, mwaura, ngatia, nzoro and other can tell us someting about mutahi. what did these people know or have heard about him that can help us locate watu wao. its a very sad story.i do hope even if he is burried here, his relatives will be aware about it .
KSB: it’s good that u r showing concern on this issue after the Purity and company failed to help. Keep it up.
How many bodies are lying in city mortuary and other mortuaries across Kenya and yet they are unclaimed!!! The government is yet to step up a system of tracking down relatives and next of kin. On several occassions, these bodies have been burried in mass graves. If charity does not begin at home, how will it commence in Sweden!
KSB: Clint, u r getting confused here. You r talking about unidentified bodies while In this case, it’s about a known person with a Kenyan pp. His home can be pin-pointed at the village level if Purity decided to do her work.
Kenyans should be burried where they die!Why do you take a dead dodo thousands of kilometers only to create more problems to their poor relatives . Civilized people do write wills and those who live in USA/EU and in Diaspora must insure themselves !Stop living as your old fashioned grannies .Wake up and smell the coffee. These two dead kenyans left Kenya before independence and are known not to have set foot in Kenya since, These guys ni (Wapotevu) lost sons who spent all their lives swinging with blue-eyes untill they realized time is not on their side. Why dont you Kenyans burry them where they have been paying taxes.
Ask Purity why is her Govt demolishing Wakenya houses leaving za wageni like Asians /Wasubgus and Arabs>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jMvCwAL8z4
An African forgets his or her roots by not being psychologically prepared nor having the psychological fortitude to face a foreign culture and people, what is termed today as cultural shock. Previously Africans with little or no contact with Europeans were most susceptible to cultural shock. They actually idolized the white man, mostly because of being bombarded with the colonial and imperialist message of “white is superior to black and brown”. This message continues to be the norm even today in a well oiled campaign in today’s efficient Mass Media. The African then aped European culture when they were either elevated in stature, being appointed colonial clerks, District Officers etc or relocated to the developed world . Note the use of the word “aping”. It is appropriate here because it explicitly describes the behavioral metamorphosis as akin to that of a genetically inferior male ape in a family of apes. This male ape mimics the alpha (superior) ape male’s behavioral traits to the point of taking on its posture and habits. This phenomenon can be observed and is prevalent today with Kenyans of so called class when they ape African Americans. They turn a blind eye or are ignorant of the fact that they are emulating Africans from challenged backgrounds living in USA ghettos, as they take on their dress mode and speech patterns. All they see is what is presented in the Mass Media (MTV etc). Others live out their fantasies and mould their pathetic lives to the likes of the trashy soap operas they watch aka The Bold and Beautiful, Desperate Housewives etc.
The common denominator here is that the one doing the aping suffers from a infiority complex. An example; how many grown Kenyan men and women speak fluent and impeccable English, French, German etc, but cannot speak their own vernacular language? These miserable Africans think they have achieved much by being proficient in European languages while neglecting their own. This is unfortunately a problem with enormous psychological ramifications facing many urban Kenyans and their children. One can only pity and sympathize with such an African since basically they are no better than slaves. Mukosa mila ni mutumwa, (English translation: He who lacks culture is a slave) and being proficient in the language of your ancestors is part and parcel of this “mila” or culture. We can as community however should try to assist and steer these Africans back home. Next time you see one of these lost Africans with a heavy American or British accent but cannot hold a conversation in their mother tongue, DO NOT envy them. PITY them. Those who have read the book Roots or seen the movie will recall that one of the tools used to break the kidnapped Africans and new slaves was to ensure that the slave owner destroyed their language by mixing them up with other Africans from other areas or whipping them to near death if they spoke their “filthy” language. However, bastardizing English was encouraged amongst the slaves as it was a sign of acceptance to oppression and having given up their unique cultures. The slave had been put in his place, under the white man’s boot. Any salve attempting to speak the language like a white man did would be severely punished.
However brothers and sisters, mine is not to give a lecture on sociology and I indeed digress from topic on hand.
We need to stand together despite our weaknesses and differences, even the more so being so far from home. The embassy and the diplomats accredited to the station have an obligation to assist Kenyans to the best of their ability and shouldn’t shrink from the performance of this duty. Being a realist and a keen observer, I would hasten to point out that the Embassy is just an extension of the attitudes and type of governance practiced in Kenya. Do we honestly believe our political leaders practice the Christian message of being your brother’s keeper? Then why do we expect a different attitude from the Embassy and its inept officials? Osewe does his part by exposing the rot and the foul stench that emanates is at times overwhelming, but then we must learn to cauterize this rot and ensure it does not resurface elsewhere. How we should go about improving our situation as Kenyans abroad?
Let us being by standing together as one and having one voice.
Hold your fire folks..Mutahi’s relatives have been traced and informed accordingly.
@Jane: you are the idle one because you are spending time insulting others yet you do so in their turf. Do you expect them to be quiet? You should not visit KSB at all if you are principled about your claims that KSB is gossip. A simpleton like you only adds injury to your apparent stupidity which does not know when a topic is serious.
Andambi, who is Purity’s lapdog (aka yes man), should have done a search through Foreign Affairs in Nairobi which could trace Gachera as the only likely person with a Kenyan passport from Nyeri under that name. Easy; but ujunga wako sent you here to show how you lick Purity and all the crap she carries against Wakenya. Ushindwe!
Was he buried in sweden?
mr.Boniface mutahi was my grandmothers sister so my grandfather. A part of him was buried in kenya and the rest in sweden.we are glad we found him though he had already been buried.thenx anyway