This archive report was first published on 31 July 2019.
On May 25, 2019, Henry Macharia Wairia wrote to the Foreign Affairs Ministry requesting a death certificate for his wife, who perished in the Ethiopian Airlines crash.
However, the ministry has refused to issue the certificate, prompting Wairia to seek court intervention.
Under a certificate of urgency, Wairia's lawyer, Irungu Kangata, has asked the court to order the ministry to provide the death certificate within seven days.
Wairia's case is not limited to the government; he has also sued the Boeing Company for damages arising from the accident that killed his wife, Julia Mwashi Ingasiana, in March this year.
According to court papers, the state's failure to provide the death certificate has arbitrarily denied Wairia his right to access information required for the exercise or protection of his rights and fundamental freedoms.
