The mother of a Kenyan who was found dead in the US state of Georgia has come out to decry the failure of American authorities to allow them a chance to give their kin a decent sendoff.
Margaret Gathaga has found herself in a tight spot after her visa application to bury her son - 35-year-old Evans Gathaga - was rejected by the US embassy in Nairobi.
Evans, who was a truck driver living in the US, has been in lying in the morgue since May 25. His body was recovered from a creek close to his house by police officers a week after he was reported missing.
US authorities have issued the family with a five-day ultimatum to get to Atlanta and bury their son or the government would dispose of the body.
Margaret and her Kenyan-based son have until Tuesday, July 6, to get visas, book a plane ticket and get to the US if she intends to bury her son who died after falling into a river.
She has sought a review of the visa rejection but is yet to receive a reprieve.
“Authorities in the US are still investigating how Gathaga ended up in the river,” said the mother.
Evans' lifeless body was discovered by Douglas Police in Lithia Springs and revealed he did not jump into the stream but slid down as his shirt was caught by trees before landing into the waters, where a fisherman spotted his body and called the police.
Reports indicate the deceased last spoke to Bishop Mwawasi, a Church leader based in Marietta, Georgia. He allegedly sought help from the clergyman, saying he was seeing strange visions.
Margaret said despite her attempts to secure a visa to travel to the US the embassy in Nairobi had crushed her hopes of doing so.
“I simply want to bury my son and get closure,” she said
The officers who confirmed Gathaga’s death told the family that his body was found in such a bad state that it could not be transported to Kenya for burial. Instead, Margaret was advised to make arrangements to travel to America if she hoped to hold any sort of burial ceremony for him.
According to his Facebook page, the deceased was a former aircraft Engineer at Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS).
He moved to the USA and like most Kenyan immigrants, worked in various warehouses before becoming a truck driver.
There are other reports suggesting he worked with a leading transport company called Everitt and eventually became owner-operator with his own company called Gaxan Logistics LLC.
