Parents of the 15 pupils who died in a stampede at Kakamega Primary School more than a year ago have filed a case in court seeking compensation. The parents want the government to compensate their children for exposing them to defective, dangerous and low maintained conditions in the school.
They have the school’s board chairman, the Kakamega county education officer and the Attorney General as respondents. They argue that the accident arose solely due to negligence and failure to employ duty of care on the pupils’ population by the respondents, and are therefore liable jointly and severally. They cite the large population at the school, the narrow and dark staircases, which they say are incapable of accommodating or serving the population.
They further say failure to meet safety standards was part of negligence by the respondents. The parents say the respondents were liable for acts of omission and negligence that caused the pupils’ deaths by exposing them to dangerous, defective and deplorable conditions.
They say despite suffering mental trauma from losing their children, the school has not followed up to console or compensate them. They say they were left with no option but to take the legal route, since it is more than a year since the tragedy happened.
The suit will be mentioned in the Kakamega chief magistrate court on November 29 for further directions.
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