A family in Kabete area claims that their kin’s body organs were illegally harvested in Saudi Arabia where he had gone to work as Chef.
The victim Edward Gathungu according to local publication left the country in October 2021 after landing a job at leading hotel in the Gulf.
All along, he had been communicating with his family including his two children but was until October 1 when he mysteriously stopped calling as usual, sending his wife Esther Wangari into a panic.
Three days later, she was informed that all was not well; the husband had been reportedly involved in a road accident.
Luckily, she traced a number that Gathungu had been using to send money and she was linked with his roommate.
“When I called the roommate, he told me that he had gone out with him the previous evening which was Saturday but they parted ways and the roommate returned before my husband,” she recalled.
Shocked, Wangari said she managed to trace an agent who followed up in Saudi and reported back that Gathungu was involved in a road accident and was admitted at an ICU in a hospital.
“Barely a day after receiving the news I received a call from a person who said he was one of the workers at the hospital where Gathungu was admitted telling us that he was brain dead, “explained Wangari.
Hours later, Wangari said the same person told the family that since Gathungu was in bad condition, they should allow them to remove his vitals for donation.
“By the time they were asking for his organs I was already overwhelmed, they kept calling telling me if I don’t give them consent he might die anytime,” the wife claimed.
When the pressure from the hospital became too much, Wangari sought assistance at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on October 11 where she was instructed to make a formal request through the embassy stating that Gathungu’s organs should not be removed and he be left to survive in the ventilator.
At that point Wangari recalled, the pressure was also coming from some family members pushing her to give out the consent but she stood her ground.
In an unexpected twist, Wangari discovered that someone had already used her personal details at the Ministry instructing the hospitals to remove Gathungu’s organs for donation.
Wangari obtained a letter at the Ministry of Foreign affairs stating that she was among those who had signed consent allowing the hospital to go ahead with their request and arrange for transportation of Gathungu’s remains.
The letter obtained by Wangari reads in part, “We are hereby give our consent to the concerned authorities of Saudi Centre for Organ Transplant in Kingdom of Saudi-Arabia for donation and without any force from anyone we undertake that we shall never in future raise any disputes against the concerned authorities accepting all organs and cornea (no bone),”
“We are authorizing the company and Kenyan Embassy to take steps and make all arrangements for the transportation of the body of Edward Gathungu to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Nairobi Kenya,” the document added.
The letter indicated that one person will receive any financial settlement and honorarium from the Ministry of Health or any other organization from Saudi Arabia on behalf of the family.
As the family awaits the body to be processed and be transported for burial, Wangari insisted justice should be served.
“I don’t want any money for organ donation, what I want is to be told how my husband died, and why there was a kind of hurry for his organs to be removed for donation,” Wangari said.
