Parents of the 15 pupils who died in a stampede at Kakamega Primary School have faulted the compensation awarded by the court.
They said, although they agreed with the judgement, the award of Sh1.25 million for each of the deceased minors was below their expectations.
Lavender Andeso expressed dissatisfaction with the awards by the court.
“I feel so dissatisfied by the judgement as a parent who felt the pinch of losing a child at 10 years who had ambition of becoming a pilot in future. If you look at the cost of bringing up the child until his death its far beyond the Sh1.25 million awarded by the court,” Andeso said.
“Some children in Busia county who were injected some vaccine and by bad luck they were disabled but alive were compensated Sh10 million each. Ours lost their lives and are awarded peanuts. There’s a problem."
Andeso said the government should not delay disbursing the little awards “because we don't have time to follow them up and down.”
Ibrahim Kiverenge said the ruling by chief magistrate Linus Kassam will serve as a warning to other school managements not to be negligent with children in their custody.
“At least justice has finally been served and the young souls can now rest in peace knowing that we cared about them. It has been a long journey,” he said.
He said although the amount of money awarded as compensation is low, nothing can replace lost life.
Pastor Obadia Alubisia said he expected better awards by the court for the painful and untimely death of their children.
“We, however, accept the verdict by the court and believe it will serve as a warning to schools managements, especially the head teachers,” he said.
Peter Mayamba said parents who lost their children are not after money but justice because no amount of money can buy life.
The court awarded each of the minors who died in a stampede at the school in February 2020 after it found the school management negligent for failing to ensure safety of children under their care.
The magistrate also awarded costs and interest for the suit. He said the school management who are responsible for the welfare of minors bore the greater responsibility as to the safety of the children.
Kassam said the school management ought to have foreseen the danger that would have arisen in such unexpected event being caretakers of the children between school hours.
“They should always keep a proper lookout for any eventuality that might occur at the school,” he said. “Due to the above reason I find and uphold that the defendants are jointly and severally for the death of the 15 children.”
The fifteen who died of suffocation are Jane Kiverenge, Bertha Munywele, Salima Olaso, Verm Prince, Samuel Simekha, Fidel Atamba, Catherine Aloo, Joseph Mutsami, Venessa Andeso, Antonatte Khayumbi, Lydia Laventa, Prudence Eliza, Simon Waweru, Nicole Achola and Junne Nakhumicha.
They were aged between nine and 12 years. They were in Standard 4 and 5. Thirty-eight others suffered fractures and soft tissue injuries.
Postmortem reports indicate the 15 children died from asphyxia following the stampede. Asphyxia occurs when the body is deprived of oxygen, causing unconsciousness or death.
Kakamega County General Teaching and Referral Hospital pathologist Dickson Muchana, who conducted the postmortem, said the deceased had problems with the lungs caused by the pile up of pupils during the stampede.