Probe gone cold, say Kakamega stampede families

Parents whose children died in a bizarre stampede at the Kakamega Primary School last month are grieving but angry the state has dishonoured its promise to disclose results in three days.

Police are yet to release information on the cause of the death of the 15 pupils, leaving parents to guess and the rumour mill to run. They know what the post mortems said but what were the circumstances?

The stampede down a metre-wide concrete staircase occurred on February 3.

But Western DCI boss Shem Nyamboki said detectives were compiling the final report on the incident for forwarding to the Director of Public Prosecution for directions.

Nyamboki said on February 17 that detectives are also probing 13 teachers who were on duty on the day of the ragedy to find out if anyone was culpable in any way.

Teaching has resumed but to avoid another tragedy, two teachers are always at the top of a staircase to monitor and guide children anytime pupils are leaving classrooms for a break, lunch or for home.

The bereaved families received Sh200,000 each from the donations from well-wishers and the county and national governments on Friday. 

Seven families whose children were injured received Sh50,000 each. 

But the parents say justice has not been served and some are losing hope of hearing the truth from authorities.

There were rumours of ghosts, witchcraft and devil worship. It is also said children ran down the stairs after a teacher threatened to cane them. Then some tripped and fell, others ran over them.

Ibrahim Keverenge, the father of Lailah Jane in Standard 4,  said it's difficult to move on when the departed children have not received justice.

"Sometimes I absently call my wife by my daughter's name because of the attachment I had to her. The investigations into the deaths have since gone cold despite the promise by the government to release information in three days," he said.

Lavender Andeso said she is getting over it because she believes it was a natural accident. She cited the government's failure to give information on the cause of the stampede that killed her son Prince Verm, 10, who was in Standard 4.

"We're beginning to doubt if there were any investigations. No one is telling us the exact cause of the death of our children," Andeso said.

She said she was accepting her son's death, adding she believes that he is in heaven "since I worked so hard to make him comfortable".

"It was so hard to accept that a child leaving the house happy and healthy would not be coming back," his mother says.

"The problem is that his friends who were unaware he died came home with presents and when they learned that he died they start crying and I had to console them again," she said.    

Francis Waweru said though the family has accepted the tragedy that killed Simon Waweru, they still want to know what caused the stampede. 

"It's traumatising that no one is talking to us about the aspects of compensation since our children died while in the hands of the government," Waweru said.

Business has resumed as usual at the school with a population of more than 3,000 pupils. 

Headteacher Dickson Wanyangu said the tragedy was his most trying moment. 

"I went through hell because I didn't know what to do but there are children in school and learning must continue," he said. 

"We are asking the government to be ready to come in and support us where we have challenges." 

Kakamega county commissioner Pauline Dola, while issuing the bereaved families with cheques, said counselling will continue. 

DCI boss Nyamboki said three teachers were on duty on the day of the tragedy, while eight others are class teachers for the eight streams of Standards 4 and 5. 

Others are Wanyangu and his deputy. 

"We have recorded statements from the teachers and we’ll also record accounts from students to establish whether there was criminal negligence or not," Nyamboki said. 

Governor Wycliffe Oparanya said the report on the cause of the deaths should be discussed publicly to avoid the recurrence of such tragedies.

Edited by R.Wamochie