Mohamud Abdi, a Kenyan man who had been reported missing after disappearing from his home in Musangari village, Kiminini constituency, Trans Nzoia County, has been confirmed dead in Cambodia.
His family received the news of the death of their son from the Kenyan Embassy in Thailand five months ago, with his body lying at a pagoda facility along the Thailand-Cambodia border since October 2025.
Speaking during an interview with Citizen TV in Trans Nzoia County, the family members stated that they had no understanding of how their son had ended up in a foreign country after the disappearance.
“We did not know that he was gone; we got the report after his demise. On January 9, I received a letter from the Kenyan Embassy asking whether I know Mohamud Ali Abdi,” Halima Abdi, the mother of the deceased, recalled.
According to Halima Abdi, the letter from the embassy explained that Mohamud had died and his body was in the mortuary with the post-mortem procedure already done.
In addition, the embassy directed that the family bear the repatriation costs for their son’s body from Cambodia.
However, the information from the embassy conflicted with the information the family had received earlier that indicated that Mohamud had been cremated.
Peter Wanyonyi a neighbor of the family noted that the family had already held a ceremony for their deceased son as they awaited for the arrival of his ashes without any success.
The family is calling upon the president to help the family bring Mohamud to Kenya for the family to hold a burial and get closure.
Additionally, the family is requesting that thorough investigations be done into the circumstances surrounding the disappearance, leading to the death of Mohamud Ali Abdi.
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Deceased Kenyans in Foreign Countries
In early March, the Principal Secretary Roseline Njogu informed the National Assembly’s Diaspora Affairs and Migrant Workers Committee that the department covered full transportation costs for recent repatriations.
Among those whose repatriation costs were covered were four bodies exhumed from Saudi Arabia on December 22, 2025, including that of the late Jesca K. Ziro, who died in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
According to the Principal Secretary, approximately 300 Kenyans who had died overseas had been repatriated over the past two years as of 2026.
The principal Secretary noted that the repatriation was an effort by the State Department for Diaspora Affairs to recover the remains of citizens buried abroad without consent.
On December 22, 2025, four of the bodies were exhumed and successfully repatriated, with the State Department meeting the full cost of transportation.
“The Ministry is actively pursuing the exhumation of the remaining four bodies, including that of the late Jesca K. Ziro,” Roseline Njogu stated.
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Repatriation Process for Missing Kenyans
The repatriation process for deceased missing Kenyans from abroad is coordinated by the State Department for Diaspora Affairs (SDDA) under the Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs (MFA).
Families and next of kin are notified about the death of their family members from the Kenyan Embassy.
After the death notification, verification and documentation of death are done in the host country.
Preparation of the remains is done according to the international (IATA) standards, and the body is placed in a suitable sealed casket, which the Missions facilitate preservation until transportation arrangements are finalized.
A letter of no objection is issued by the embassy or consulate for transportation to Kenya in coordination with the State Department for Diaspora Affairs.
Upon arrival at the Kenya airport, documents are cleared by the immigration, health, and customs authorities and released to the family for burial.
