Kenya gov't to foot funeral expenses for Kakamega school victims

The national government in conjunction with the Kakamega County government will take care of the funeral expenses for the victims of the Kakamega Primary School stampede. This declaration was made by DP William Ruto during his visit to the school.

“As a national government, and on behalf of all Kenyans, we’re here to stand with the people of Kakamega County, especially the parents who lost their children. We would like you to know that through this very difficult time, we are with you,” said the DP.

“I have spoken to Governor Wycliffe Oparanya, the national and county governments will come together to ensure that whatever will be needed – financially, and every other arrangement – will be catered for jointly so as to ensure our children are given a worthy send off.”

Therapy sessions

He has urged parents of surviving children to avail them for counseling and therapy, stating that they may have been emotionally scarred after losing their schoolmates.

“I want to urge all parents that there will be doctors here, even if your child was not injured, many of them will still be affected in one way or the other including psychologically, so counseling is important…because these children have lost their schoolmates, classmates, desk mates and friends,” he stated.

It still remains unclear what exactly led to the stampede that resulted into the death of the 14 pupils at the school. The Kakamega Central OCPD has intimated that the Class Five pupils were leaving for home when the stampede occurred at the staircase.

“Losing 14 children is no joke. We are giving our security team the time to give us a full report so that so that we can ensure nothing that has happened in this school ever happens again,” the Deputy President said.

President Uhuru Kenyatta has also sent his message of condolences to the families of the deceased children.