Man seeks compensation for losing son in Garissa college attack
A picture showing a KDF soldier outside Garissa University College after Al-Shabaab attacked the institution on April 3, 2015 killing 148 students. A man, Mr Gakuru Michire, on June 28, 2016, sued the university, Inspector-General of police and Attorney-General seeking compensation for the loss of his son. FILE PHOTO | JEFF ANGOTE | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
Mr Gakuru Michire, through his lawyer Ndegwa Njiru, has filed the case at the Constitutional and Human Rights Division of the High Court in Nairobi.
- The petitioner’s son, the late Samuel Michire Gakuru, was shot dead at a residential hall within the campus alongside 147 other students on April 2, 2015.
He wants the court to fault the police boss, the institution and the Attorney-General for failing to offer protection for his son on the material date.
A parent whose son was killed in the deadly terrorist attack at the Garissa University College one year ago wants the government and the institution compelled to compensate him.
Mr Gakuru Michire, through his lawyer Ndegwa Njiru, has filed the case at the Constitutional and Human Rights Division of the High Court in Nairobi where he avers that the “Constitution has established the national security principles which include the protection against internal and external threats to Kenya’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, its people, the rights, freedoms, property, peace and stability and prosperity and national interests.”
The petitioner’s son, Samuel Michire Gakuru, was shot dead at a residential hall on the campus alongside 147 other people, most of them students, when armed gunmen raided the college on April 2, 2015.
“The Inspector-General of police is legally mandated under Article 245(2)(b) to have the command over the National Police Service including that of ensuring that there is law and order within the country,” Mr Michire states in an affidavit.
He wants the court to fault the university, police boss and the Attorney-General for failing to offer protection for his son on the material date, leading to a violation of his child's right to life as enshrined in the Constitution.
STATE FAILURE
He further states that the purpose of the principles of “national security” is to protect, uphold, defend guard and sanctify the inherent right to life.
“The national security organs failed in their constitutional duty of providing intelligence, surveillance and information that would have enabled to avert the attack,” the father states.
Furthermore, he states that the named organs failed to secure the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the country, thus posing a threat to his son.
He says he is justified in instituting the petition under Article 22(1) and article 258(1), (2), of the Constitution, saying the “the rights and fundamental freedom guaranteed in the Bill of Right have been denied, violated, infringed and threatened.”
Mr Njiru has annexed President Uhuru Kenyatta's emotional condolence letter to the family dated April 7, 2015 in which the head of state shared “words of comfort and sympathy over the untimely and violent death of your son.”
“My government has done a lot to contain the threat of terrorism ... we are doing much more even as I write this,” the letter reads.
On Tuesday, the lawyer was directed to serve the college, the Inspector-General of police and the Attorney-General in readiness for a hearing and determination of the case.
Six suspects arrested over the killings and whom police linked to Al-Shabaab are on trial in a Nairobi court over the deadly terrorist attack.
(Editing by Joel Muinde)
