The husband of one of the victims of the Ethiopian Airlines crash has sued the state demanding he be issued a death certificate.
Henry Macharia Wairia says the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has declined to give him a death certificate which he needs to get compensation.
Through lawyer Irungu Kangata, Wairia said his wife Julia Mwashi Ingasiana was among those killed when the Boeing MAX 737 crashed in Ethiopia on March 10.
All the 157 onboard the plane, including crew, died.
Wairia said he has sued the Boeing Company, through his American lawyers, for damages following the death of his wife.
“We wrote a letter to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on May 25 asking for the death certificate but they refused to issue it (the certificate)," Wairia says.
Macharia produced in court a marriage certificate which he said was also shared with the ministry to show he was married to Ingasiana.
He wants the court to compel the ministry to issue him with the wife’s death certificate within the next seven days from the date of the order pending the hearing of the petition.
In failing to avail the death certificate, Wairia accused the state of arbitrarily denying him his right to access to information which is required for the exercise or protection of rights and fundamentals freedoms guaranteed in law.
He said failure to get the certificate has delayed the disbursement of the of funds due to him including the gratuitous compensation from Boeing, compensation from Boeing and the strict liability damages from Ethiopian Airlines.
Edited by peter Obuya
