NGO to sue Boeing on behalf of families

Family members of Stella Osebe and his son Adam Mbicha Konarski during a funeral service at SDA church Milimani. [Beverlyne Musili/Standard]

A non-governmental organisation wants to sue American plane manufacturer Boeing, whose jet crashed in Ethiopia a fortnight ago.

Justice and Environment Foundation has started building the petition that will be filed in Chicago, US the home of the aviation giant.

Thirty six of the 157 victims were Kenyan citizens. Representatives of their families have also been seeking State help in attempts to sue the Boeing manufacturer.

The NGO's petition is a class suit that could open huge compensation for families of the victims drawn from several countries around the world.

The petition has been premised on the assumption that the crash was caused by an engineering fault.

The NGO wants the jet manufacturer to compensate each of the lost lives with a Sh300 million pay, although the court will determine the final figure.

Boeing has already been sued over the October crash in Indonesia where all the 189 passengers died. Preliminary investigations established similarity with the Ethiopian accident.

Godfrey Onyango, the Justice and Environment Foundation founder, told The Standard already he had received approvals from several families to start the litigation.

“We have identified legal firms in Nairobi, United Kingdom and the US who will handle the litigation on behalf of the victims’ families,” Mr Onyango said.

Family support

According to Onyango, compensation could be guided, by among other factors, to what extent the court finds the victim supported surviving family members.

He added that the move was a response to the frustrations endured by the families, especially after the State turned down their request for help in the litigation process.

Already, several Kenyan families have accepted to join the Justice and Environment Foundation petition. Ethiopian Airlines has also given a token amount to a few families of the victims which Macharia Kamau, the Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary, said was only to help in facilitation of the burials.