State forgot us, say neglected Garissa terror attack survivors

It is 12 years since masked gunmen simultaneously attacked two churches - the Catholic Cathedral and the AIC congregation in Garissa and left 20 people dead and at least 50 injured.

Kenyans may have moved on, but not the victims of the July 1, 2012  incident, who continue to nurse resultant health complications that have taken a toll on their finances. 

In an interview, Reverend Joseph Mutunga of the AIC church said the victims' lives were turned upside-down, with most struggling to foot their medical bills and take care of their families.

Mutunga, whose wife Ann Kalemi was also shot in the leg, said the church is unable to effectively meet the demands since the victims have many needs.  

“I am sorry to say this, that the government has not been supportive enough to the victims who I would say were left on their own. At least seven people are struggling with these different injuries,” the reverend said.

Gladies Munyambu still has shrapnel  from an improvised explosive device. Her husband, Ben Munyambu, says the frequent medical check ups have left the family financially constrained. Munyambu disclosed that he has been relying on family and friends for help.

Agnes Makau and Dan Mungee live with bullets lodged at the back and left leg respectively. For James Cosmas, a grenade hurled by the militants affected his legs, forcing him to undergo constant check ups at various hospitals. 

Mutunga's wife still has difficulties walking for long distances and standing for long hours, and needs strong painkillers.

“A caring government should have at least done a follow-up to these victims and offered them financial and medical assistance because it was not their wish to get themselves in this situation. It just happened."

The cleric says details of the attack are still fresh in his mind.

“This is something I always don’t like talking about leave alone remembering. It was an extremely bad picture. Scenes from hell. This place was like a slaughter house.”

Mutunga benefited from a three-year trauma healing programme at the Eldoret parish in 2013, which he says his family needed. 

His congregation commemorated the day until seven years ago, a decision he says was unanimously decided by the church leadership and members.

“After the church attack we continued to mark the anniversaries for 5 years we then decided that is enough is enough because apart from being unbiblical, they were also doing us more harm than good in that while we were trying so hard to forget about the unfortunate event of that day, the anniversaries only served to bring back the memories of that day,” the cleric said.

Mutunga says the issue of security should not be left to the government alone.

"As much as its the responsibility of the government of the day to ensure that the lives and property of its citizens are well protected,there is need for  the residents to remain alert at all times and report any criminals to the security apparatus for swift action to be taken," he said.