Kenyan Family Seeks Help to Raise Sh4 Million to Repatriate Son’s Body from Finland

The family of Kenyan student Rodgers Kipruto who committed suicide in Finland last week is appealing for help to raise the Sh4 million needed to airlift his body to Kenya for burial.

Kipruto’s dad Jonathan Kosgey said they are racing against time to raise the amount after Finnish authorities gave them 21 days to collect the body failure to which it would be disposed of in line the Finnish laws.

“Ferrying the body requires up to Sh3 million and as the family, we had exhausted all the resources to send him to study in Finland. Now that he will be brought as cargo, the bill is humongous. We have also set up a Paybill number to assist us in raising the funds and also the burial cost. The Paybill number will be up by Tuesday this week,” he told Nation.

“We have been notified within 21 days the body should have been flown or the Finnish authorities will dispose of it. All Kenyans of goodwill, we are pleading with you to help us give him a decent send-off after bringing the body back to Kenya.”

Kosgey said the Kenyan embassy in Finland is handling logistical issues to ensure the body is brought on time. 

“We have relatives in Sweden who are now in Finland to assist us and already a post-mortem is underway and we are waiting for the report. As a family, we are optimistic we shall receive the body at JKIA because already the embassy in Finland has asked us for details so that we will be the ones receiving the body in Nairobi,” he said.

Kipruto, a nursing student at Laurea University in Finland, took his own life under unclear circumstances. His body was found hanging in his room on April 18th days after his family reported him missing.

Kipruto and 201 other students went to Finland last September under the Uasin Gishu Overseas Education program in which parents paid school fees through a trust account, with the county government acting as a guarantor.

Kipruto, who is suspected to have been battling depression, complained about hardship in Finland after quitting his job as a nurse aide at Nakuru Level V Hospital to further his studies in the European nation.

Kosgey said his son’s frustrations in Finland were a result of the stand-off between the Uasin Gishu county government and Laurea, Jyvaskylla, and Tampere universities in Finland.

He said parents were promised that after paying the first installment of school fees, their children would secure a job that would enable him to cater for their expenses, including subsequent tuition fees.

“We were just asked to make a deposit of Sh950,000, we were not informed whether it was fees, accommodation or ticket fees. I pray to the county government to help us return our son to us so that we can give him a proper send-off,” Kosgey said last week.

“We were deceived into paying 70 percent of the fees, Sh950,000 out of Sh1.2 million, and that the remaining 30 percent would be paid by students who will be studying and working at the same time. How were they supposed to pay the remaining amount if the classes were full-time and they could not secure a job?” he posed.