Pay Enziu victims’ families, State told
Members of St Cecilia Mwingi Catholic Church choir behind portraits of their colleagues who perished in the River Enziu bus tragedy, during the mass at St Joseph’s Seminary Secondary School.
Calls for compensation of the 32 River Enziu tragedy victims dominated the burial of four siblings yesterday as residents said the bridge has not been repaired.
Area Ward Representative Ngui Kiruru said negligence on the part of the government was to blame for the tragedy and many others.
“Almost two weeks after the accident, nothing has been done at River Enziu crossing. We expected boulders placed there and signs erected to warn motorists and other bridge users,” the Nguni Ward representative said.
He added that the government should take responsibility for the accident and compensate the affected families.
“We have been told that an overhead bridge will be built. The crossing is worse than it were before the tragedy. Something should have been done to improve it,” he said.
The bodies of the four Makau Ngungu siblings were buried at their Ndooni village home in Nuu.
The company that built the Enziu Bridge and the government officials who supervised the works face court action over the 32 deaths.
The victims died when their hired school bus slid into the river as it attempted to cross on December 4.
Locals have demanded that Kenya Rural Roads Authority (Kerra) Director-General makes public details of the contract of River Enziu bridge construction.
They want the contractor and Kerra officials who failed to properly supervise the contract as per the bill of quantities to account for their negligence.
In a December 8 letter the residents demand that Kerra discloses how the tender for the building of the bridge was awarded and how much was spent on the project.
Bridge collapsed
Through their lawyer, Eric Mutua, the community wants the identity and directorship of the contractor made public.
The letter also demands the making public of copies of the contract signed between the company and the government and why payment was made.
“We shall appreciate to receive the information within seven days and we hope you will comply with our request to avoid resort to court action, in enforcing our right to access information” read the demand letter, which is copied to Kitui Governor Charity Ngilu.
The controversial Enziu Bridge along the Nguni – Nuu road was constructed in 2015 and was supervised by Kerra engineers in Kitui County.
Huge sections of the bridge have collapsed making it risky for vehicles to cross over especially when the river gets flooded after heavy rains.
The contractor is alleged to have compromised the quality of construction materials including weak steel in order to rake in more profits, while Kerra engineers may have been compromised to look the other way, thus endangering lives.
Mr Mutua said his law firm will pursue a pro bono public litigation on behalf of the community, seeking compensation for the bereaved families from the government, over negligence of state agencies.
The lawyer also wrote another letter to Police commanders in Mwingi asking them to provide particulars of all the previous deaths of persons reported at the Mwingi and Nguni police stations, as a result of drowning at Enziu River crossing.
The legal action comes a day after the government announced it had secured Sh500 million for the construction of a new overhead bridge whose work is expected to start in January.
Infrastructure Principal Secretary Paul Maringa on Tuesday told MPs that the ministry will in the meantime repair the surface bridge for use as the new one is being constructed.
The ill-fated school bus was taking Mwingi Catholic Church Choir and other guests to a wedding in Nuu area in Kitui County on Saturday when it was swept by raging waters as the driver tried to navigate the flooded bridge.
Construction of bridges
Prof Mainga told the National Assembly’s Committee on Roads and Transport that the ministry was facing budgetary challenges to fund the construction of bridges across the country.
“It is true this bridge has been having a problem but budgeting has been an issue to us but I can confirm that the notification for the new contract has gone out and we will sign a contract in the next three weeks. We will then give the contractor two weeks to mobilise resources before he gets to the site to start the work in January,” he said.
According to the PS, the construction of the bridge is supposed to take two years but will be fast-tracked due to the oncoming long rains.
In addition to the bridge, the PS also said the government would erect signposts in the area and bring traffic marshals to caution residents against crossing the river when it is flooded.
The government will also build waiting areas around the river for travellers to rest while waiting for the water to subside should the river be flooded again.
“We have realised this particular river, people have no places for resting and holding as they wait for the waters to subside. In this particular case, we are told the people waited in a bus for two hours. You can imagine sitting in a bus for two hours. It’s not comfortable at all,” said Prof Mainga.
