Police call for inquest into ferry deaths
By Sophie Njoka, October 23, 2019
Police investigating the death of Mariam Kighenda and her four-year-old daughter Amanda Mutheu in a ferry accident last month have recommended a public inquest into the cause.
In a file forwarded to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Noordin Haji yesterday, detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations say they have not found any of the Kenya Ferry Services employees criminally liable.
The DPP is now expected to give directions on whether to ask the court to open a public inquest into the deaths or order further probe.
Five questioned
Likoni sub-county police Commander Benjamin Rotich said police have not been able to hold anyone responsible for the accident.
“No one has directly been linked to the accident or the deaths. We have, therefore, recommended that members of public be invited to tell the court what they saw or know about the incident,” he said.
Five people, among them coxswain, who was operating MV Harambee, and security guards from a private firm, who were inside the ferry, have been questioned in connection with the accident.
Kighenda and Mutheu drowned when their vehicle rolled off MV Harambee in the Likoni channel on September 29.
The car (pictured) was retrieved on October 11, after nearly two weeks of search.