Three weeks after Kenyan teacher John Okoth Ogutu was fatally shot during protests in Dar es Salaam, his family is still struggling to locate his remains — a delay they describe as agonizing, traumatic, and increasingly hard to understand.
Okoth, who had traveled to Tanzania shortly before the unrest, was killed on October 29. Since then, his relatives say they have made repeated visits to government offices, sought help from diplomatic channels, and contacted various agencies in both Kenya and Tanzania — but none have provided clear information on where his body is being held or when it will be repatriated.
According to the family, their attempts have been met with confusion, shifting explanations, and bureaucratic hurdles.
“It is very frustrating when we see both governments taking us in circles,” said Bernard Miranyi, a family representative. “We’ve been to the Embassy of Tanzania several times, and the answers we get from there ni majibu ambayo yanavunja moyo sana (the responses are deeply discouraging).”
Family members say the prolonged uncertainty has had a devastating emotional impact, particularly on Okoth’s elderly mother, who remains hopeful but increasingly distressed as the days pass without closure.
The family is now urging Kenya’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs to intervene more decisively and fast-track the process of tracing and returning Okoth’s body so that burial plans can proceed without further suffering.
Their concerns have drawn the attention of several human rights organizations, which have criticized the Tanzanian authorities’ handling of the case and the broader response to the protests in which Okoth was killed.
Some groups have gone as far as calling for the resignation of Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu, accusing her administration of human rights abuses and urging the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate.
However, these remain allegations made by the organizations. Tanzanian officials have not issued any public response, and no independent investigation has confirmed the claims.
For now, Okoth’s family says their plea is simple and urgent:
to bring their son home.
Despite numerous visits to diplomatic offices in Nairobi, they say they have received no concrete updates on the whereabouts of the body or any timeline for repatriation. The family continues to wait, hoping that both governments will act swiftly to end their painful ordeal.
