- He said that the deceased were children who were under the care of the school management.
- He said that evidence by the parents that the deceased were children who were under the care of the school was not controverted by the defendants.
Image: COURTESY
A Kakamega court has awarded Sh1.25m to each of the 15 Kakamega primary schools that died in a stampede in February 2020.
Delivering a ruling in a case in which parents of the deceased minors sued the state for compensation for the death of the pupils, chief magistrate Linus Kasaam also awarded costs and interest for the suit.
He said that the deceased were children who were under the care of the school management.
He said that evidence by the parents that the deceased were children who were under the care of the school was not controverted by the defendants.
“In my view, the school management who are responsible for the welfare of minors bears the greater responsibility as to the safety of the children,” Kasaam ruled.
Kasaan said that the school management ought to have foreseen the danger of 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 responsible for the death of the 15 children,” he said.
He said that the fact that accidents occur on their own is not itself proof of liability.
The parents through Ondego Garo Advocates had sued the school’s board chairman, the Kakamega county education officer and the Attorney General as respondents in their suit.
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.
The parents said that their children were healthy and had a promising future of becoming important citizens of society, but their lives were tragically cut short due to negligence by the school.
“Prior to their death, the children used to support their parents. They had a promising future from their report forms and academic activities. The plaintiff therefore shall claim for the losses suffered by parents of the deceased minors,” they said in their plaint.
The parents sought compensation for their children for exposing them to defective, dangerous and low-maintained conditions in the school.
The 15 pupils, who died in the evening panic flight on February 3, 2020, were aged between 9 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 Referral Hospital pathologist Dickson Muchana, who conducted the post-mortem, said the deceased had problems with the lungs caused by the pile-up of pupils during the stampede.