Kenyan Family Puzzled As South African In-Law Refuses To Repatriate Kin’s Body For Burial

• A family from Kwale is fighting to bury the remains of their daughter after her ex-husband, who is based in South Africa, refused to send her body back to Kenya
• Mwanaidi Juma Shame allegedly died in South Africa three weeks after falling sick, raising questions about her demise
• The family has now called on the government to help bring back her body for the last respects before she is buried

A family in Kwale county wants the government to intervene and bring back the body of their kin from South Africa.

The woman, identified as Mwanaidi Juma Shame, is reported to have died abroad after ailing for three weeks.

The family claims that Mwanaidi’s ex-husband has refused to release her body and insists on burying her in South Africa.

Mwanaidi’s sister, while speaking in a report by Citizen TV, stated that she is not a citizen of South Africa but a Kenyan and, as such, should be buried back home.

Why was Mwanaidi Juma in South Africa?

She added that Mwanaidi only travelled to South Africa to take her child to his father.

However, she stayed in the country after failing to raise money for a return ticket.

“She is not a citizen of South Africa, she only traveled to take her child after which she was not given money to get back to Kenya,” stated the sister.

As per her sister's narration, this would have been Mwanaidi’s third year in South Africa since she travelled in 2021.

Mwanaisha Sumaidi, the mother of the deceased, stated that she wants to see her daughter to ease the pain of her demise.

She also called on the government to help bring Mwanaidi home.

“I am pleading with the government to help bring my daughter back home. I have not seen her, please help me heal this heartbreak,” she said.

What killed Mwanaidi Juma Shame?

Mohammed Juma Shame, the brother of the deceased, has raised questions about what killed his sister. He noted that they were only made aware of her death without information on how she died.

Therefore, he called on the national government and Kwale county government to collaborate and get Mwanaidi’s body back home for burial.

“We are told she died but we do not know what led to her death. We want the national and county governments to work together and ensure her body is repatriated so that we can bury her and accept that she is truly dead."

Kenyans raise millions to repatriate body of Eldoret woman for burial

In other news reported by TUKO.co.ke, Kenyans living in Australia raised Ksh5 million to help the family of Sheila Jeptum ferry her body back to Kenya.

The 21-year-old woman died in Australia, where she had relocated for work following a road accident that left two people dead in February 2024.

Sheila was aboard a Hyundai Elantra whose driver lost control and hit a Holden Colorado. According to police report, the Hyundai driver also died.

Proofreading by Mercy Nyambura Guthua, journalist and copy editor at TUKO.co.ke