CS Mutua pledges to step up efforts for compensation of 1998 bomb blast victims
By Wycliffe Nyamasege, August 31, 2023
Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Alfred Mutua has pledged to step up diplomatic efforts to ensure victims of the 1998 bomb blast are compensated.
Appearing before the Senate Ad Hoc Committee pushing for the compensation of the Kenyan victims, the CS acknowledged that the compensation was long overdue.
Mutua said it was an emotional meeting as victims vividly narrated the events that followed after the bombing, the hardships and health complications they’ve had to suffer from as a result of the attack.
“I acknowledged that the compensation of the victims is long overdue and that the Government will step up diplomatic efforts to ensure compensation for Kenyan victims of the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombing is fast-tracked,” the CS said.
The Senate Ad Hoc Committee is chaired by Machakos Senator Agnes Kavindu.
The nine-member committee was formed to follow up on the compensation matter with the US government.
At least 213 Kenyans and 12 American nationals were killed in the attack by Al-Qaeda terrorists targeting the US embassy in Nairobi on August 7, 1998.
More than 5,000 people were injured during the attack.
The victims of the bomb blast renewed their push for compensation as the country marked the 25th anniversary of the attack early this month.
The families of the victims of the attack lamented that they were yet to be compensated despite their US counterparts getting huge payouts.
The victims under their umbrella lobby dubbed Consortium of August 1998 appealed to President William Ruto to intervene and help them get justice.
“Our appeal to President William Ruto who we elected on the platform of hustlers is to come and help. We are the real hustlers because we have been left to suffer on our own. Most of these victims still have to undertake medication which is expensive for them. We need to be heard now,” the lobby’s spokesperson Douglas Sidialo said.
Most of the survivors disclosed that they still have particles of glass in their bodies while others have to survive on medication.
“The consortium has reached out to the senate through Machakos Senator Agnes Kavindu. They are expected to investigate ways in which the USA government can be moved to amend its laws to allow for eligibility of compensation to the Kenyan victims and survivors,” the lobby’s chairperson Caroline Muthoka revealed.