Expensive crash: How negligence, overloading cost Loreto Convent Sh45 million
Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education exam candidate Joy Mvatie in March 2016. She was one of the survivors of the fatal Loreto Convent Msongari accident on the Meru-Nanyuki Highway on July 29, 2011. She scored a B plain on the test despite losing her right arm.
What you need to know:
- Two girls died on the spot and a third lost her life while receiving treatment at a nearby hospital.
- At least 30 others needed urgent medical attention.
- Of those, 18 had to be rushed to Nairobi Hospital by ambulance and three, were airlifted to the same facility in critical condition.
July 29, 2011, should have been one of the happiest days in the young lives of 71 pupils at the tail end of their primary school studies at Loreto Convent Msongari.
Instead, a horrific accident turned it into the darkest day for those who survived and the people in their lives.
The crash has become one of the most expensive mistakes that still haunt the school to this day, more than a decade later.
Up until that moment, the Loreto chain of schools was largely known for producing some of the country’s best and brightest with leaders like Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai.
But an act of negligence, overloading a bus with schoolchildren, blighted the institution’s near spotless reputation.
Last week, High Court judge Joseph Sergon ordered Loreto Convent Msongari to pay over Sh16.5 million to one of the accident victims to cater for past and future medical expenses.
Justice Sergon’s award means that the school will have paid out Sh45 million to two of its former learners in two years.
In 2020, the High Court awarded another former pupil that sued the school seeking compensation following the accident.
Justice Sergon last week awarded Sh14.6 million but ordered that Loreto Convent Msongari also pay interest, at court rates, on the special damages from the date of filing of the suit until full settlement.
The court interest rate in Kenya is 14 per cent each year. Justice Sergon awarded Sh1.7 million in special damages and the interest from June 2014 is Sh1.9 million.
The compensation cases have also given an insight into the agony, suffering and high medical costs incurred by the victims.
Schools were closed for the second term holidays and, rather than spend that time at home, as usual, the institution had organised a unique trip to Samburu with a stopover in Meru.
In the travelling group, 35 girls were set to sit for their Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exams that year. The other 36 were in their penultimate year of primary education.
Aside from the joy of roving about the beautiful countryside, the pupils were to get a first-hand view of how coffee farms and factories contribute to Kenya’s economy.
The icing on the cake was the fact that, for the next few days, the pupils would rest their heads at Sarova Shaba, one of the country’s hospitality centrepieces located at Archer’s Post in Samburu County. The full package.
For almost all of that second term, the school had talked up the trip intended for classes seven and eight pupils to the point that everyone was looking forward to the excursion.
Early that morning, parents dropped their children at school. The pupils knew they were to travel in two buses. But moments before departure, the headteacher, Ms Margaret Sewe, who was also part of the travelling party, ordered all pupils and the nine teachers into one bus.
Some of the girls had to carry their classmates. After visiting a coffee farm in Meru, the team departed for Samburu.
But, while going downhill at Subugia along the Meru-Nanyuki highway, the brakes failed and the driver, Patrick Oduor, lost control of the vehicle. After rolling several times, the vehicle hit another a Kerugoya Boys High School bus.
Fatal crash
Two girls died on the spot and a third lost her life while receiving treatment at a nearby hospital. At least 30 others needed urgent medical attention.
Of those, 18 had to be rushed to Nairobi Hospital by ambulance and three, were airlifted to the same facility in critical condition.
The Kerugoya Boys bus was ferrying the school’s staff from Isiolo. In what was perhaps pure luck or divine intervention, the Kerugoya Boys' teachers had stepped out of their bus to get refreshments. Three members of their team, however, sustained minor injuries and were treated before being discharged.
It was not so lucky for some of the survivors in the Loreto Convent Msongari side. Six of the young ones had to be amputated to avoid fatal infections.
On June 9, 2014, one of the survivors sued the school for negligence. She was treated at the Aga Khan University Hospital in Nairobi and Apollo Hospital in India.
That was, however, far from the end of that journey as she still has a number of reconstructive procedures to make her life a bit more comfortable.
Seven years later, the victim and Loreto Convent Msongari reached an out-of-court settlement. The school accepted liability and agreed to pay Sh3 million in general damages.
General damages
The only issue for Justice Sergon to determine was how much to award in special damages and other compensation claims by the victim.
In law, general damages are awarded to cater for direct physical or psychological injuries arising from an incident.
Special damages are given to compensate costs that a victim has incurred and are intended to return the individual to the same financial position they were in at the time of the incident.
Justice Sergon dismissed claims from the plaintiff for costs for food, shopping and other requirements, instead opting to restrict himself to past and future medical expenses.
The plaintiff will have to undergo eye surgery (Sh1.7 million), reconstruction of her right eyelid (Sh1.8 million), surgeries on her arms and chest (Sh9.2 million) and two therapy sessions each month for one year (Sh193,200).
She had sought Sh15 million to cater for her future medical costs, travel expenses to and from the Czech Republic and accommodation for her guardian while abroad for treatment.
Two years ago, Justice Lucy Njuguna awarded another victim Sh14.7 million for medical expenses, interest on special damages at Sh10.7 million and legal costs of Sh1.1 million.
The victim was initially hospitalised for 22 days. She later had surgeries done in Nairobi and London. She is now a 22-year-old advocate practising in one of Kenya’s most prestigious law firms.
