Terror victims, rights activists cry out for compensation

Some of Garissa University College students light candles on 1/4/2016 in Eldoret, to commemorate comrades killed by Al shabaab in 2015. Pictures By Peter Ochieng.

Following the terror attack on Garissa University College that caught the attention of the world, foreign governments came in to help survivors pick up the pieces.

The Kenyan government only catered for the survivors’ initial medical costs at the Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) and funeral expenses for the 148 killed.

No compensation was given, and those with serious medical complications were left to come up with other ways of raising money for their medical bills.

Mercy Chepkorir was shot on both legs. The shots resulted in a compound fracture on one leg and a simple fracture on the other. She stayed at KNH for two months and now uses crutches. Her single mother had to close her small business to take care of her.

“I am still under medication and it has strained me financially,” she says. “I used the sponsorship I received from France to cater for my basic needs and medication and I would appreciate any financial aid to help me complete my studies.”

Another survivor, Rachel Gikonyo, is still hospitalised due to complications from one of the seven bullets that hit her. The university catered for her treatment at the National Spinal Injury Hospital where she was bedridden, but she needed further specialised treatment in India that her family could not afford and the university could not pay for.

Her family languished for months, thinking of ways to come up with the initial Sh2 million needed for her treatment abroad. It was only after her mother died three days after visiting her in hospital on Christmas Day that Kenyans learnt of her double tragedy and raised money for her to go to India, where she is currently.

Right to compensation

But should innocent victims of terrorism be struggling in this manner?

The Victim Protection Act 2014 covers victims of all kinds of crimes, including acts of terrorism. It states: “...the victim has a right to compensation by the offender,” for among others, “personal injury and costs of any medical or psychological treatment.”

But how does one identify the offender in terrorism cases?

“It is regrettable that in Kenya we do not have any system or legal and regulatory framework for the compensation of victims of tragedies where the offender is not identifiable or capable of giving compensation,” says Kimani Githongo, an advocate of the High Court. “There is a serious gap that the government needs to look into and come up with a victims’ protection framework, especially looking at the numerous terror attacks that the country has witnessed recently,” says Githongo.

This can be done through an amendment of the Victim Protection Act. “This Act only provides for the protection of victims of crime and abuse of power but presupposes that an offender must be identified and convicted,” he says.

Victims of the many terrorist incidents that have afflicted the country and the post-election violence survivors have been clamouring for compensation from the government.

This clamour often turns into a cat and mouse game that leaves victims worse off.

Douglas Sidialo was rendered completely blind after the August 1998 bomb blast in Nairobi. He was the chairman of the Bomb Blast Victims Association from 1999 to 2002.

“I fought so hard for compensation, but eventually I realised we cannot hold people at ransom. In Kenya, it is everyone for himself and God for us all,” he says.

Compensation from the Kenyan government, he says, is a mirage, and he is more optimistic about it coming from the US government.

“If it comes, well and good, but many people have gotten depressed, sick, mired in poverty and many have died still waiting for it,” he says.

Historical injustices

“Victims of all types of crimes are usually just used as witnesses and then they are forgotten,” says Samson Omondi, a Programme Officer at the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights. “In the law, we have legislation covering this in form of the Victims Protection Fund but operationalising it has been a challenge.”

Omondi says the President created a reparations fund during his first State of the Nation address to help in compensating victims of historical injustices, but no mechanisms were put in place to make it functional.

“We do not even know if the fund is available,” he says. “The framework for reparations that were proposed by the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission is yet to be adopted.”

If the country continues to ignore the issue of victim compensation, the consequences could be dire.

“The effects of trauma touch every area of an individual’s life, leaving virtually nothing unscathed. The longer that trauma exists without treatment, the greater the effects on a person’s life,” says Githongo, who is also a counselling psychologist.