Kenyan woman evacuated in critical condition after being attacked in Albania

Joyce Aoko, a Kenyan woman based in Albania who has been receiving treatment after being attacked in the foreign nation, is presently being flown back to her home country.

The State Department for Diaspora Affairs, in a statement to newsrooms, said the aircraft carrying Ms. Aoko, her mother as well as her medical team left Albania early Wednesday and is set to touch down at the Wilson airport at around 6:30pm on the same day.

The State Department stated that Ms. Aoko was brutally attacked by unknown people and left with serious injuries while at her place of work in Tirana in August last year, but that the information was only relayed to them by the Kenya Mission in Rome on January 11, 2023.

“She was hospitalized for treatment and has been in critical condition ever since. Unfortunately, she needed specialized neurological care which was not available in Albania,” read the statement.

“While we continued to urge the government of the Republic of Albania to conduct speedy and thorough investigations to bring the perpetrators to book, we found it in Ms. Aoko’s best interests, to bring her home to complete her journey of healing among her loved ones.”

Diaspora Affairs Principal Secretary Roseline Njogu is expected to receive Ms. Aoko at the airport when she arrives, and thereafter escort her to the Kenyatta University Teaching, Referral & Research Hospital (KUTRRH) for further treatment.

“The State Department will offer free counselling services to the family before and after her arrival,” added the statement.