By Otuma Ongalo

Friday August 7, 1998, will forever be etched in infamy in the history of our nation. On this day, Nairobi’s bright morning was suddenly engulfed in darkness as smoke and dust hovered over it after a deadly bomb blast.

Memories of this fateful occasion were relived last week during the 11th commemoration of the day 257 lives were lost and many injured.

Eleven years later, wounds have healed but the scars and sad memories remain indelible. Victims and families of those who lost their beloved ones are still seeking justice but in the wrong place and on wrong premise.

Last week, they revived calls for US compensation based on the usual argument that they suffered the blow meant for Americans. This is fallacious. Consider this scenario: You’re walking on the street and a man aims a blow at the fellow next to you but it also lands in your face. Would you be adjudged to be of sound mind if you confront your fellow victim?

There is no doubt that the August 1998 bomb left a trail of bitter emotions but quite often, rationality dissipates under such circumstances. Let’s face the sour facts: America was a victim, not a perpetrator of the heinous act. When we mourned our dead, they mourned their dead too and even contributed millions of dollars to help Kenyan victims. As the only remaining superpower, the US has always been looked upon to lead the war against international crimes like terrorism. By asking the nation to pay for the crimes of the very global enemy it is expected to fight, and has been greatest victim of, is absolute hypocrisy. We portray a picture of a nation so desperate that it even sniffs opportunities in tragedies.

Any duly elected government has the moral and legal responsibility of ensuring the safety of its citizens. When terrorists sneaked into our country, assembled the deadly bomb, caused mayhem and sneaked back to their caves, Kenya was not a failed State. It had a security system entrusted with protecting residents against any aggression. The Government, therefore, bears the burden of compensation of the bomb victims.

However, compensation for loss of life or injury should not be selective. It does not make sense, for instance, to mourn plane crash victims for several weeks and compensate their families and survivors promptly but turn a blind eye to the plight of hundreds of road crash victims.

The plights of many victims who require compensation remain unheard and unheeded since some tragedies are, apparently, more ‘high profile’ than others. Is anyone spearheading the quest for justice following the Wagalla massacre, the Oromo Liberation Front attacks in Northern Kenya or the Kikambala Hotel bombing? The Kikambala incident was so similar to the Nairobi attack except the magnitude of casualties and terrorists target. Twelve Kenyans were killed in an attack aimed at Israelis yet there have been no claims for compensation from Tel Aviv.

There is a thin line between the quest for justice and the chase of American dollars following the 1998 bomb blast. Would, for instance, the victims be so determined for justice from a poor country if its embassy were attacked in Nairobi?

The trouble with Kenya is that justice is only pursued vigorously when there is possibility of monetary compensation; it is not about ensuring culprits are punished and similar crimes deterred. Lawyers and human rights activists are only interested in pursuing lucrative cases and that is why they cannot be found in Bukembe pursuing justice for Nasimiyu.

Many of us have watched Mr John Ward travelling around the world and spending millions of shillings to pursue Julie Ward’s, his daughter, killers and silently marvelled about his resilience and ‘waste of money’. That is the true spirit of pursuit of justice. While many people spend money to pursue justice, Kenyans pursue justice to get money. True justice for bomb victims is when Osama bin Laden and key masterminds of global terrorism are brought to book. Not even trillion dollars from Washington will atone for the black Friday loss.