The promise of greener pastures has once again ended in a coffin that cannot come home. In Shanzu, Mombasa, the family of Agnes Emmanuel is living a waking nightmare, grappling not only with her brutal murder in Lebanon but with the gut-wrenching realization that she was killed by the very people she trusted: her fellow Kenyans.

Agnes left for Beirut in 2021, driven by the desperate hope of transforming her family's life. Instead, her journey ended in November 2025, beaten to death in a foreign land. The details are chilling. Her husband, Mwaro Ngala, recounts the phone call that shattered their world—a confirmation that she was assaulted not by "outsiders or Arabs," but by her own friends. It is a betrayal that adds a layer of toxic bitterness to their grief.

Stranded in Death

Months after her death, Agnes’s body remains held in a Lebanese morgue, a hostage to bureaucracy and poverty. "We have tried everything," says her sister Mishi Emmanuel, her voice heavy with resignation. The family is stuck in a diplomatic limbo, directed to an embassy in Kuwait because Kenya lacks a direct diplomatic presence in Beirut. It is a stark reminder of how vulnerable Kenya’s diaspora workers are, unprotected in life and abandoned in death.

The tragedy exposes the dark underbelly of the "Gulf Dream." While billions in remittances flow into Kenya, the human cost is often hidden in closed caskets and unanswered phone calls. Agnes's children ask daily when their mother will return, a question Mwaro has no answer for.

• The "Kenyan on Kenyan" Violence: The revelation that the attackers were compatriots points to the brutal, dog-eat-dog environment that some migrant workers endure. It shatters the myth of diaspora solidarity and demands a deeper investigation into the social breakdown within these migrant communities.
• The Government's Silence: The family’s plea is simple: help us bring her home. Yet, their cries seem to echo in a void, highlighting the state's sluggish response to consular emergencies involving its most vulnerable citizens.

A Cry for Justice

Agnes Emmanuel did not die from illness or an accident; she was murdered. Yet, with the body miles away and the perpetrators likely ghosting into the shadows of Beirut, justice seems like a mirage. For the family in Shanzu, the "greener pasture" has turned into a graveyard.

This story is a damning indictment of the labour export system. Until the government can guarantee the safety—and dignity—of its citizens abroad, every flight out of Mombasa carries the risk of becoming a one-way ticket to tragedy.