Kenyan Diplomat Ruth Anyango Dies in the US

Ruth Anyango Ogonda, the administrative attaché at the Kenyan consulate in Los Angeles, California has passed on.

Ruth passed away at Olympia Medical Centre in Los Angeles on Friday after a short illness, according to Kenya’s Foreign Affairs Ministry.

“Ms. Ogonda was suddenly taken ill at her residence on the morning of April 10th, 2020 following which, Consulate staff called in paramedics who rushed her to Olympia Medical Centre, Los Angeles where she was admitted,” the ministry said in a statement on Monday.

The ministry added that a postmortem examination will be carried out this week to establish the actual cause of Ruth’s death. The ministry said it will issue an update on her death once the autopsy report from the hospital is released.

“The Ministry is in close contact with the next of kin, as well as Consulate staff in Los Angeles, in order to better manage all the operational details, as well as to cushion the immediate family of the deceased officer, currently residing in Los Angeles,” the statement adds.

Ruth joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2015 and was posted to Los Angeles in July 2018.

"She was transferred into the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2015 and served diligently in the Americas Department up to her posting to Los Angeles in July 2018," the ministry added.