Heads must roll: President Ruto orders action over Embakasi fire tragedy
Wreckage of burnt trucks and tankers a day after a gas explosion in the Embakasi area of Nairobi. At least three people were killed and more than 300 injured.
What you need to know:
- The president ordered the sacking and prosecution of officers in charge of licensing.
- Nema says it has suspended four officers who were directly involved in the issuance of the licence.
- Dr Ruto attributed the explosion to corruption and negligence of the responsible officers
- the gas plant had twice – in March 2020 and January 2021 – been demolished by authorities and the operators charged in court.
- Derrick Kimathi, owner of the property at the centre of the Mradi Village gas explosion, denied culpability in the accident saying the property was being used as a garage at the time of the explosion and not as a gas-filling plant as reported.
The heat was on Saturday turned on government officials, whom President William Ruto wants dismissed from their jobs and prosecuted over the Embakasi fire tragedy, as police launched a hunt for the owner of the yard, who has controversially said he was licensed--and only operated--a garage.
This comes as pressure mounts on top officials of key ministries, departments and agencies that should have shut down the plant before disaster struck
President Ruto ordered the dismissal, arrest, and prosecution of State officials involved in the issuance of a license to a gas storage and refilling plant in Embakasi that exploded on Thursday night, plunging the city into panic.
The Mradi village residents first reported a huge bang, followed by multiple explosions that sent flames and huge smoke billowing into the sky. Then a rain of fire descended on them, they narrated.
While on a working tour in the Western region, Dr Ruto attributed the explosion to corruption and negligence of the responsible officers. He faulted the government officials who accepted bribes to endanger the lives of ordinary Kenyans when he ordered that they “should leave work”.
“I have told the ministry responsible that all those who were involved in issuing the license where it was not appropriate should leave work now and be taken to court. These people know that they were told they will not be given the license. But because of corruption and dishonesty, they were issued with a license, [and] they went ahead to operate,” he said.
Three people – including a minor – succumbed to injuries while nearly 300 people were injured and 3,000 lives shuttered. The number of casualties is expected to soar.
The Kenya Red Cross said they had reunited 21 children with their families even as more people came up for psychosocial support.
The Head of State’s utterances come after the Energy and Interior Cabinet Secretaries on Friday jointly revealed that the gas plant had twice – in March 2020 and January 2021 – been demolished by authorities and the operators charged in court.
Yesterday, the National Environmental and Management Authority (Nema) suspended four officers it said were directly involved in the issuance of a licence to the gas storage and refilling plant that caused the Thursday night tragedy.
The four – director environmental compliance, acting deputy director compliance, senior environmental officer - EIA section, and the head of environmental impact assessment - EIA section – Nema said, were involved in the issuance of a license to the refilling plant without following the due process.
“After [a] thorough assessment of the licensing procedure and processes, the [authority] has noted with great concern some serious gaps in the issuance of the license to the LPG plant in question,” read the statement by Nema Chairperson Emilio Muco, subsequently, “preliminary investigation has revealed that four Nema officers unprocedurally processed the license and are therefore culpable.”
The authority further said the application for a licence was sought by a firm identified as Maxxis Nairobi Energy on July 29, 2020, but was issued on February 2, 2023.
Even as Nema said it had suspended the officials for the illegal licensing of the gas plant, Derrick Kimathi, whom lawyer Wandugi Karathe identified as the owner of the property at the centre of the Mradi Village gas explosion, denied culpability in the accident.
According to Kimathi's lawyer, the property was being used as a garage at the time of the explosion and not as a gas-filling plant as reported. “The motor vehicle that caused this incident was trespassing into his [Mr Kimathi] property without his knowledge and consent and he is actively pursuing the details of that vehicle so that it can be exposed to the police," he said.
Wandugi admitted that Kimathi had applied for a licence to operate a gas-filling plant in 2023, which was rejected.
“Because he knows the regulations of a gas filling plant, he did not commence that business, and the premises continued to be used as a garage where cars are repaired” the lawyer said.
This, as it emerged that several State agencies were also involved in the issuance of the licence with Nema revealing that the Nairobi County director of Physical, Water Resources Authority, directorate of Occupational Safety and Health, Water and Sewerage Company and director of Urban Planning and Development were part of the process.
The Petroleum Institute of East Africa also revealed that the proprietors of the very facility where the gas exploded Thursday night had a criminal case instituted against them on November 9, 2020. All the accused persons in the matter were found guilty and convicted with a sentence issued on May 18, 2021.
The lobby group’s General Manager Wanjiru Manyara said that “despite guidance by the High Court on the mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison or a penalty of Sh10 million”, the accused were fined Sh500,000 or a one-year imprisonment instead of Sh20 million or five years for the proprietor and a fine of Sh50,000 for the second accused instead of a fine of Sh10 million or five years.
As this went on, police in Nairobi said they were in hot pursuit of the unnamed owner of the gas plant said to be still at large, even as detectives continue to comb the scene to ascertain what really happened on Thursday night.
"We are also on the hunt for the individuals running this facility. They are known people and we are confident we will arrest them soon. I will not give details on their identity for now, but once we have booked them, we will release a full report," Nairobi Regional Police Commander Adamson Bungei told Sunday Nation.
Ironically, the proprietor of the facility, Mr Kimathi, through his advocate said he was ready to present himself to the police.
Wandugi, the lawyer, refuted claims that his client is in hiding.
“He is available, he is within the public and has been in touch with sections of the police. Our client is willing to fully cooperate with the police in the course of their investigation but request that the media refrains from publishing any unverified misstatements that are prejudicial to him,” Mr Wandugi said.
Three people died from injuries sustained in the blast, while nearly 300 people were injured. An unknown value of property was destroyed in the incident.
According to multiple residents, the businessman attracted customers by refilling the gas cylinders cheaply. “He charged Sh500 for the 6kg cylinder and Sh800 for the 13kg cylinder. We didn’t know we were playing with fire,” a resident told Nation.
Kericho Senator Aaron Cheruiyot led the pack of sceptics saying that the crackdown would barely be fruitful.“Has there been a case in Kenya's history where public officials are charged and jailed for professional negligence that led to loss of lives? Collapsed buildings, oddly done road repairs, [and] gas leaks... It is not for want of laws, we have sufficient of those,” posted the Senate Majority Leader.
In Embakasi, normalcy seems to have resumed on the periphery. But for the inferno victims, they can barely re-imagine their lives. Everything for them was paused. Life. Health. Hope. Livelihood. It was scattered with a huge ball of fire.
Yesterday, they were only gathering pieces of their lives, quite literally. Against all odds, some were checking if anything remained of their belongings. Others scavenged for scrap metals. And for some like Ann Njeri and her two-month-old daughter, as the sun was going down –for the second day –after the incident, they did not know where they would spend the night. Her fate is shared by several others in the neighbourhood.
The incident has left neighbourhood shaken to the very core. While hope lingered, the residents were still reeling in shock from the Thursday night apocalypse-like experience.
In Mradi, however, companies, go-downs, and the residentials co-exist side-by-side, a recipe for another disaster .
