Kenyan Family Demands Answers After Son Is Buried in UAE Without Relatives’ Knowledge

The family of a 29-year-old Kenyan man who died in the United Arab Emirates is demanding answers after his remains were buried before his relatives were informed of his death.

Peter Nyaanga Omambia, who worked as a messenger in the UAE, died at NMC Hospital in Dubai on June 4, 2026. His father, Joel Omambia, says the Kenyan mission was notified of the death several times but failed to inform the family.

Documents shared with TKDM show that notifications were made to the Kenyan mission on June 5, June 16 and June 24. Joel says he later learnt that UAE authorities had also communicated with the Kenyan side, raising questions about what happened to the information after it reached the mission.

The family learnt of Peter’s death on July 7, when Esther Mwaniki, whom Joel identified as an official in the State Department for Diaspora Affairs, contacted him.

By then, Peter had reportedly remained unclaimed for more than a month and had been buried without his relatives being involved in the arrangements.

Joel is now asking the government to establish when the Kenyan mission received each notification, who handled the information and why the family was not contacted before the burial. The family's concerns are separate from the recorded medical findings on Peter’s death. 

Hospital and post-mortem documents indicate that he died from cardiogenic shock linked to myocardial ischaemia. The records also note stage-three chronic kidney disease. A police report states that Peter had been jogging when he collapsed. Medical records document cardiac arrest and subsequent treatment before his death.

The available police documents do not indicate any criminal suspicion surrounding the death. The medical findings instead identify cardiac disease as the likely cause and are consistent with natural causes.

The family's main concern is what happened after Peter’s death. Joel travelled to the UAE to establish what had happened and says he obtained documents relating to the case and located his son's grave.

He is now seeking permission for Peter's remains to be exhumed and returned to Kenya. The family says its request is also based on its religious and cultural traditions. 

Joel says the family is Christian and follows Kisii customs under which relatives are buried at their ancestral home. He says land had already been set aside for Peter's burial and that the family has never buried a relative outside its home area.

Correspondence from Kenyan authorities shows that the case was being pursued in July. On July 10, the State Department for Diaspora Affairs wrote to the Consul General in the UAE requesting that Peter's employer facilitate the repatriation of his remains to Kenya.

Ten days later, the Kenyan Consulate wrote to Dubai's Ministry of Health stating that it had no objection to the issuance of Peter's death certificate. In a July 21 letter to Principal Secretary Korir Sing'Oei, the Consul General also referred to Peter's case. The mission said it had not received official confirmation of his burial, although it had received unofficial information that he had been buried.

The mission said that if the family objected to the burial, it could engage UAE authorities over possible exhumation and repatriation, subject to the applicable legal and administrative requirements. The correspondence confirms that Kenyan officials were dealing with the case in July. 

However, it does not establish when the mission received each of the earlier death notifications cited by Joel. That gap remains central to the family's complaint. It also leaves unresolved the sequence of communication between UAE authorities, the Kenyan mission and Peter's relatives.

Joel says the family has suffered further distress because of the way it received the news and the uncertainty surrounding Peter's remains. He says his elderly mother suffered a stroke after learning of the death, while his 94-year-old father experienced severe trauma.

He also says his wife has struggled to cope with the loss and has spent periods away from the family home because of memories of their son. Joel is asking the government to account for the handling of the reported notifications, explain why the family was not contacted before the burial and pursue the legal process required to exhume and repatriate Peter's remains.