Circumstances surrounding the death of online blogger Frank Obegi are still raising eyebrows over the mysterious manner he and other three of his friends met their demise, but of also the lavish life they led, which has now emerged was made to paint a picture of opulence contrary to the real situation on the ground.

On Thursday, June 23, his family while speaking to the media from their home in Nyamira county, narrated their side of the story, saying their son made an honest living which did not corroborate the claims that he was an online scammer who lived off the hard earned money of his unwitting victims, as witnessed on his social media posts where he was seen living large.

His mother in particular recalled the last conversation she had with him before he disappeared, stating that he ,in fact, desperately borrowed Kshs 70 from her to sustain himself, an amount that she could also not raise at the moment.

"I remember he called me just a day before he was found asking me for only Ksh70. I was together with his uncle and I told him that I did not have the money at that moment," Obegi's mother stated.

His family members also maintained they were of the knowledge that he lived an honest life, and were also distraught at the claims that he was making money without their knowledge, asking that if it were so, then they be allowed to access it to facilitate funeral planning because at the moment, they lacked the financial ability to even buy a coffin in which the slain blogger would be interred in.

"You have all seen that here we don't have anything, even ferrying the body from Nairobi was very difficult. Even now we do not have the funds to purchase a coffin. If the money they are talking about is indeed in existence, they should release some so that we use it to fund his funeral," one of his relatives stated.

His brother echoed the same sentiments, asking Kenyans not to take anything about his deceased sibling at face value as he was just a person who enjoyed the good things in life and chose to post them to spark excitement online.

"Anyone could have Kshs 10,000 and choose to board a flight to Mombasa and post it. Anyone could have the latest sneakers and choose to post it. That does not mean they are rich.My brother could even call home to beg for Ksh100 to buy lunch," he stated.

Kenyans online who had a front row seat at the blogger's life through his lavish posts were stunned at the revelations, with one section stunned over the extent at which he went to show his opulence, and another still of the belief that he scammed his way through life to escape his reality.

"It is now clear that when you die, people will match your online life with what is on the ground. They will look at your house in the village, that of your parents. If you can't match both, just be you. Make fun online but live the real life silently! See Frank Obegi," one Twitter user stated.

"Frank Obegi pretending to make money for online validation is wild due to the fact that even asking for 70bob from his mum and she couldn’t afford it ! Says a lot. Aki guys hurumieni parents !(Be merciful to parents) Social media will make people believe other people are doing better but they aren’t ," one Beth Kasinga remarked.

"Frank Obegi was living large and treating women with expensive alcohol when parents are languishing in poverty," another opined.

"That statement from his mother was the shocker. She gave a painful account of her son who would call to ask for 70 bob....same statement his brother said that he would ask for 100 bob to buy food only that the bro defended his lavish lifestyle," Obalu K stated.

The family has called on all investigative agencies to speed up the investigations into their son's murder to accord him justice and to them peace of mind.