By Vitalis Kimutai
Exactly one year since two ministers perished in a plane crash, the families have had some reprieve but many questions remain unanswered.
The families of former Roads Minister Kipkalya Kones and Home Affairs assistant Minister Lorna Chepkemoi Laboso are waiting to know where the responsibility for the loss of their loved ones falls, after it emerged the ill-fated aircraft was not insured.
They have reached a dead end and have resorted to court action against the company that operated the aircraft and against the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA).
Had the plane been insured, each of the families would have been entitled to at least Sh5 million in compensation, aviation experts said.
Aircraft insurance covers passengers, luggage or mail on board.
However, each family put a family member into Parliament, through subsequent by-elections, to replace their deceased kin.
One of Kones’ two widows, Beatrice Kones and Laboso’s elder sister Dr Joyce Laboso are now the Bomet and Sotik MPs respectively. Kones is also the Home Affairs assistant Minister.
Parliamentary Insurance
Beatrice Kones (left) and Joyce Laboso. [PHOTOS: FILE/STANDARD] |
Each family was given Sh10, 622,000 million by Cannon Assurance as parliamentary insurance cover for the fallen MPs.
Mr Maina Mukoma, the Cannon Assurance Managing Director handed over the cheques through the National Assembly Speaker Kenneth Marende last month.
At the time of the crash, the late Kones and Laboso were on their way to Ainamoi constituency in Kericho District to supervise a by-election on behalf ODM, which had also been occasioned by the sudden demise of area MP Kimutai Too.
In the plane crash on June 10 last year at Kojonga village in Narok North District, the plane’s owner and pilot Christopher Maria Schnerr and police constable Kenneth Bett also lost their lives.
In separate interviews with the families, they both said they were in the process of instituting proceedings to sue the Sky Trade Company, Ltd that operated the ill-fated plane, for compensation.
Investigators have said the aircraft did not have a valid insurance cover at the time of the accident.
"We are suing Sky Trade and KCAA for negligence, which resulted in the death of Mr Kones," Mrs Kones, said in a recent interview.
Dr Laboso said the family was also seeking legal redress against the Sky Trade and KCAA.
Political Shoes
"We have instructed a lawyer to move to court and pursue the issue of compensation with the company that operated the plane and we are also enjoining KCAA for negligence," she said.
Mrs Kones, who stepped into the big political shoes of her late husband in Bomet constituency, says life has never been the same for the family.
"As a family, the death was devastating and we are yet to come to terms with the reality. We are trying to cope and we have turned to God, relatives and friends for support," she said.
Kones’ second wife, Lily, a retired medic and a farmer in Molo was not available for comment for this story.
To commemorate the sad day both the Laboso and the Kones families will today hold separate prayers at the homes of the two former MPs.
The Kones family will congregate at the deceased’s Kaporuso home in Bomet constituency, while the Laboso family will meet at the Manaret home in Sotik.
On Saturday, the Laboso family will launch a Lorna Laboso Foundation at a ceremony that would be used as fundraiser for the foundation.
The following day, the Kones family will hold a fundraising for the Kipkalya Kones Foundation.
They plan to establish a secondary school to cater for needy and bright students in the region.
"The proposed mixed school would be built in a five-acre piece of land that has already been bought with funds from friends and well wishers.
"The ground-breaking ceremony is tentatively set for August, with first batch of students expected early next year," Mrs Kones said.
Support Students
"Kipkalya was supporting more than 40 students from the constituency in various learning institutions and many more from the larger Kericho and Molo districts," she said.
Dr Laboso said fundraising would be done yearly to support the ideals, which Lorna stood for.
"We will establish a leadership school in the constituency for girls in remembrance of Lorna, who held women empowerment and girl child education close to her heart," she said.
The Sotik MP said Lorna always empathised with those who lived in abject poverty and spent time and resources seeking solutions to problems affecting the people.
"The fund and the institution to be put in place will go beyond politics and we are putting up structures to ensure it operates even long after the Labosos are not in politics," she stated.
Mrs Rebecca Laboso, (Lorna’s mother) said her wish was to keep her late daughter’s ideals alive.
