Why have you neglected us? Families of Garissa University attack victims ask government

The family of Charles Kaguru is yet to come to terms with his death.

His grandmother, Milka Wangechi, 93, is still mourning. Kaguru‘s father, Joseph Wanyiri says his son was very close to his grandmother such that she used to raise his fare to Garissa every time he reported back to school.

“She has never healed. She keeps on talking about her friend and grandson,” said Wanyiri.

The family of the then second year business administration student was thrown into anxiety following the April 2, 2015 attack on Garissa University College. For close to one week, they could not locate Charles’ body.

“After five days, we were told the government had managed to identify some bodies through fingerprints. It was a traumatising moment," said Wanyiri.

He is among hundreds of parents and relatives who have converged in Nairobi for the first memorial of students who perished in the terror attack.

One question keeps lingering on his mind: Why has the government abandoned the bereaved families?

“We only received Sh100,000 from the government for burial arrangements. President Uhuru Kenyatta pledged to support us in his personal condolences which were read during the burial,” he said.

But all this has been in vain.

Even with counselling, his family — wife Ann Wanjiku, two sons and a daughter — are yet to cope with the reality that Charles is gone forever.

“We are staunch Catholics and we believe God heals. We have hosted so many visitors, among them pastors from various denominations who come to spend time with us. That has helped us recover from the trauma,” said Wanyiri.

At Kiandieri village is the home of Alex Mwiriri Muchiru, another victim of the terror attack. Here, his family is still in shock.

They are just not willing to talk about it. At least not now.