'My husband went out to seek bursary for our children but found death'
James Atanga, a 45-year-old father of two died in a stampede on Monday in Githurai 45, Ruiru Constituency, Kiambu County when bursary seekers scrambled for bursary forms.
James Sagwe, a father of two, left his house on Monday morning in Githurai 45, Ruiru Constituency, Kiambu, hoping to get bursary forms for his two children.
At the district officer’s office in Githurai 45, where thousands of other bursary seekers had converged, Sagwe, 49, was allocated number 783.
Then a scramble broke out, with desperate parents and guardians pushing and shoving for space to get the forms. Sagwe was trampled and died after he was knocked down by the surging crowd.
More than 30 people were injured in the stampede and rushed to various hospitals.
“The last time I saw my husband was on Monday morning when he left the house for Githurai 45, to secure the bursary forms for our two children, hoping they would subsequently get a bursary allocation of Sh7,000 from our MP Simon King'ara. Unfortunately, the crowd was too big and impatient and started pushing each other, scrambling for the bursary forms,” Ms Pamela Atanga, his wife, told the Nation in an interview.
“He meant well for us and his family — that is his two children Deborah Moraa and Andrew Asa. He paid the price for trying to be a good father for his two children because what he was making a day as a boda boda rider could not sustain us and pay the school fees for the children,” the wife added.
James Atanga, a 45-year-old father of two died in a stampede on Monday in Githurai 45, Ruiru Constituency, Kiambu County when bursary seekers scrambled for bursary forms.
Proper structures
Andrew is at Kabianga High School, while Deborah is a fourth-year student at Masinde Muliro University.
Ms Atanga said her husband’s death could have been prevented had there been proper structures in place to avoid the chaos that was witnessed on Monday morning.
“The area member of Parliament has turned the issuing of bursary forms into what looks like a political rally to cement his political base without considering the risks that he is exposing poor people to. But because we are poor and vulnerable, we have no choice but to troop to the venue he sets for the issuing of bursary forms. It is sad though,” Ms Atanga lamented.
She told the Nation that she learned of the stampede from other boda boda riders who rushed her husband to Kenyatta University Teaching and Referral Hospital where he died while receiving treatment.
Mr King’ara, the Ruiru MP, did not respond to Nation calls about Monday's incident.
Ruiru constituency is the most populated sub-county in Kiambu with about 700,000 people.
It was among the constituencies listed for subdivision in proposals by the aborted Building Bridges Initiative (BBI).
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