Leaders demand compensation for bomb injuries, deaths

Leaders in the pastoral East Pokot Sub-county in Baringo County have petitioned the national government to compensate victims of deaths and injuries caused by undetonated bombs allegedly abandoned in the area by Kenya Defence Forces recruits.

Ribkwo/Kositei MCAs Daniel Tuwit and his Silale counterpart Nelson Lotela condemned the senseless loss of lives and threatened to eject the KDF recruits who train in the area.

"Its not the first time these bombs have caused deaths or injuries to our children and livestock. Enough is enough. The Government needs to move with speed to avert more deaths and injuries," said Tuwit.

According to those who witnessed the incident, the two boys were herding camels at Ameyan when the deceased identified as Kamama Ng'urareng hit the bomb with a stone, causing it to explode.

Charred body

Four camels are also reported to have died during the incident, with the second boy, who is said to have been 100 metres away, escaping unhurt.

The deceased boy's father Lokeno Olareng said it was unacceptable to continue losing lives as a results of the explosions which he attributed to the Government's carelessness.

"I feel so sad that my son was killed by an abandoned bomb and not as a result of an illness. He was alive and kicking only for me to find out that he had been killed by a bomb carelessly abandoned by the Government," said Olareng.

The MCAs are demanding that the government adequately compensates the family of the deceased, saying most victims of such bombs were yet to be compensated.

"We are demanding that the Government takes responsibility for the recklessness that has led to many deaths in the area failure to which, we will not allow KDF to carry out the training in this area again," said Tuwit.

Lotela said the incidences have been on-going for years yet neither the KDF nor the national government has taken any initiative to curb them.

Three months ago, an eight-year-old boy identified as Kanyakera Lodinyo was killed and two other people injured in the area after another abandoned bomb went off.

The boy was herding goats in the company of two other boys aged 10 and 15 years when they stumbled upon the object and hit it with stones causing it to explode.

Last year, a 16-year-old boy identified as Smith Losiwareng had his right hand amputated after he was injured by an explosive in the same area.

Area Sub-county Commissioner Daniel Kurui said they are working with the police in investigating the source of the explosives.

In May this year, residents of Naiborkeju Hill in Samburu County asked the Government to clear the area of discarded explosives. The residents who were building new manyattas in the area came across the explosives abandoned in the area in the 1980s.