Pupils injured in accident during Nairobi music fete neglected, parents say

Parents of pupils from a private school in Meru who were involved in an accident while attending the National Music Festival in Nairobi in August have accused the institution of neglect.

The pupils of Victorian Academy in Maua, Meru County were heading to the Bomas of Kenya when their hired bus overturned on Lang’ata Road, leaving two dead and others injured.

Parents of those who were injured have now accused the school’s director, Pastor Tom Ondimu, of showing little concern for the victims and giving them no support.

Mr Peter Mugambi is a guardian of Karen Murugi whose left hand was amputated.

The girl, who is in Standard Eight, is having difficulties writing using one hand.

“I had to take her to the school where her sister works so that she can be taught how to write. She has to be dressed and cannot do anything on her own,” said Mr Mugambi.

BEHAVES AS IF NOTHING HAPPENED

He told the Nation that Pastor Ondimu “has been behaving as if nothing occurred since the accident occurred on August 11.”

“He has never called to know how the girl is doing or whether she will be going back to the same school. This has surprised me a lot,” he said.

The turn of events prompted Mr Mugambi to write a letter to Education Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang but he is yet to get a response.

Mr Mugambi says that during Murugi’s two weeks’ stay at Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH), the Ministry of Education officials together with the school promised their full support.

All the pupils’ hospital bills were to be settled through the school.

He further said the officials promised to give Murugi’s mother Sh2,000 for bus fare while visiting her in the hospital but that did not happen.

He said he had to settle the hospital bill totalling Sh400,000 on his own.

The huge amount, he said, was as a result of transferring Murugi from the general to a private wing for further treatment since her hand had already started decomposing.

HOSPITAL BILL TOO HIGH

The education officials were, however, against this move saying the bill would be too high.

He also says there are other follow-up appointments at KNH and medication which also require a lot of money.

“I would have wished to assist her get a functional artificial hand since her future is long and bright and she will not always depend on assistance from others, but the money for this is not easy for me to get,” he said.

He wants to know why the school has never contacted the affected families to condole them and the reason Murugi’s bill was not settled through the school as parents had been promised.

“Why is it that all the promises made by the ministry officials were never fulfilled including sending as little as Sh2,000 for bus fare?” he posed.

Mr Mugambi further claimed that efforts to get response from the school have been futile.

DENIED CLAIMS

However, Pastor Ondimu termed Mr Mugambi’s claims as lies meant to tarnish the name of the school.

He said the school stationed three teachers at the hospital to take care of the pupils when they were admitted.

There were also officials from the ministry who frequented the hospital and were to cater for the hospital bills since they were undertaking education activities when the accident happened, he said.

“The officials were ready to help Murugi but his parents prevented them from seeing her. What else could we have done?” he posed.

He further said the ministry catered for the expense of other pupils and burial expenses.

Ondimu said the parents whose children died in the accident and Murugi’s parents did not support the school’s efforts to get a lawyer to follow up on compensation from the vehicle’s insurance company.

ATTEMPTED COVER-UP

Another parent, Mr Fredrick Mbaabu, lost his daughter who was preparing to sit for her KCPE exams while another one was injured.

He accused Pastor Ondimu of behaving “in a manner that suggested he was trying to cover up some issues” when they had gone to KNH to see their children.

Mbaabu claimed that at one time, Pastor Ondimu had tried to hide his late daughter’s post mortem report whose intention was not clear to him.

Mr Mbaabu said he had however made a copy of the report which saved him from being arrested by police from Lang’ata Police Station where the pastor had reported he had stolen the body from the hospital’s mortuary.

He urged the Ministry of Education to investigate the issue and establish the suitability of the vehicle that was used by the pupils and the qualification of the driver.

Mr Mbaabu said the parents were not given a chance to choose their own lawyer.