Nakuru residents on Thursday commemorated the lives of 137 people who perished in the Sachangwan oil tanker tragedy exactly 10 years ago along the Nakuru-Eldoret highway.
The emotional prayer service was held at the spot where the disaster occurred as friends and relatives paid tribute to the departed whose names were engraved on the plaque where their
mass lies.
"I lost my husband who was our only breadwinner. We have been struggling to put pieces of life together but it has never been the same. I got maimed too hence not able to provide for my six children even the basic needs. Every night I ask myself many questions with no answers. It is painful, life will never be the same again," 46-year-old Mary Muthoni painfully narrated.
This is the pain many families who were affected by the tragedy have gone through in the past decade as life has never been the same again.
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The families said that former President Mwai Kibaki's administration promised them Sh30 million compensation but, that has remained just a promise.
They added that each family received Sh50,000 for burial expenses and were to be given more to build their lives but that never materialised.
Sachangwan Assistant County Commissioner Peter Mutiso, however, said that no records exist to show that they were promised compensation by the government.
"It is true that the victims deserve support including psychiatric and medical help for those who were maimed. I will follow up the matter to ensure the affected families are supported at least to pay school fees,” the administrator said.
Families of those who perished in the tragedy, have formed a group to push for compensation from the government.
Molo MP Kuria Kimani promised to pay school fees for all the orphans whose parents perished in the tragedy.