Parents of students killed in Garissa University attack sue for compensation

The suit was filed at the High Court in Nairobi by nine parents. FILE PHOTO | NMG 

By MAUREEN KAKAH
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Summary

• The parents want the court to declare that the State abdicated its responsibility to prevent and combat terrorism as well as protect its citizens during the attack.
• Gunmen associated with the Islamist militant group stormed the university and killed at least 147 people in April 2015, in the worst attack on Kenyan soil since the US embassy bombing in 1998.
• The siege ended nearly 15 hours after the gunmen shot their way into the Garissa-based campus in a pre-dawn attack.

Parents of 28 students who lost their lives during a terror attack on Garissa University College four years ago have sued the government for compensation.

The parents want the court to declare that the State abdicated its responsibility to prevent and combat terrorism as well as protect its citizens during the attack.

The State, they argue, also failed to adequately prevent the attack and rescue their children, leading to the loss of lives.

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They cite several other attacks within North Eastern region , and travel warnings of imminent terrorist attacks allegedly issued by the US, German, Australia and British governments before the Al-Shabaab siege on Garissa University College as well as the Westgate one which occurred on September 21, 2013, which left 71 people dead.

“It is against this background that the parents of the students who were killed in the Garissa University attack bring this petition,” they say.

The suit was filed at the High Court in Nairobi by nine parents together with Kituo cha Sheria on behalf of the 28.

Worst attack

Gunmen associated with the Islamist militant group stormed the university and killed at least 147 people in April 2015, in the worst attack on Kenyan soil since the US embassy bombing in 1998.

The siege ended nearly 15 hours after the gunmen shot their way into the Garissa-based campus in a pre-dawn attack.

The parents claim that prior to the attack, letters had been dropped along Garissa Road notifying non-Muslim students to vacate the university's premises or face a terrorist attack.

They also claim that there was tension in the institution as result of the letters that saw student elections postponed and that the principal wrote to the county commissioner seeking enhanced security at the premises.

They have sued the Cabinet Secretaries for Education, Defence and Interior, the Inspector-General of Police, the National Police Service, Garissa University College as well as the Attorney-General.

The sued parties are yet to respond to the case which will be coming up on May 25.