A Kenyan family is mourning Dickson Gitonga Mbatau, who was found dead inside his home in Phoenix, Arizona, on Wednesday, October 28 — just four days after celebrating his 54th birthday with friends and family.
According to information shared by the family, concern set in after roughly 48 hours passed without anyone hearing from Mbatau. Unable to reach him, his relatives requested a welfare check from the Phoenix Police Department. It was during that check that officers discovered he had passed away inside his home.
Only days earlier, on October 24, Mbatau had marked his 54th birthday at a dinner with family, sharing photographs from what appeared to be a joyful occasion — images his loved ones now revisit in disbelief. No cause of death has been made public.
His family is now working to repatriate his remains to Kenya, where he will be laid to rest among his loved ones. Sharon Mumbi, who is coordinating the arrangements on behalf of the family, is appealing for prayers and financial support from relatives, friends, Kenyans in the diaspora and well-wishers to help bring him home and give him a dignified farewell.
Contributions can be made through the family's GoFundMe campaign: gofund.me/540d97575
For the diaspora community, the loss strikes a familiar and painful chord — the reality of losing one of our…
