Families of students killed by Al-Shabaab in Garissa attack plan to sue State

Families of students who were killed in the Garissa University attack in April are planning to go to court to seek compensation from the government.

Family members of the deceased – parents, guardians and relatives – met at Uhuru Park to form a committee that will hire lawyers to represent them in a court case to compel the government to compensate them.

The families said that the Sh100,000 given to them by the state was not adequate and only catered for funeral expenses and hence cannot be considered as compensation.

“Since we buried our children we have not heard from the national government. The money we got barely catered for the loss we suffered,” Florence Katumi Felix, a bereaved parent, said. Her daughter, Veronica Syokau Felix, was her first born and was studying for her Bachelor of Arts degree in Education at Garissa University College.

“She was our hope and an inspiration to her siblings. We have met here today to elect a committee that will help us seek compensation,” Ms Katumi said.

Joseph Wanyiiri Ngatia, who lost his last born Charles Kaguru Wanyiiri – a second year Business Management student – said that only the Red Cross had assisted him since the burial.

“The Red Cross has offered us counselling sessions to deal with the loss. Both the President and his Deputy promised to compensate us but we have not yet heard from them. The government has abandoned us, our children were killed in school where the government was meant to provide security to them. I had heavily invested in the education of my son and was hoping he would assist me in old age,” Mr Ngatia said.

Kiharu MP Irungu Kangata, who addressed the parents, said that the government had to first establish a method of compensating the parents.

“I was approached by parents from my constituency to help in this cause. So far the government only allocated money for burial expenses,” he said.