John Wambua, the husband to a woman who drowned at the Likoni Ferry crossing disclosed that he had been forced to pay Ksh250,000 to divers to help retrieve his wife and child who drowned at the Indian Ocean.
John Wambua, Husband of Woman Who Drowned at Likoni Forced to Pay Divers Ksh250,000
Family removed cash to have loved ones recovered
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This is after efforts to recover the bodies of Mariam Kigenda and her daughter Amanda hit a snug due to lack of equipment.
Kigenda's husband John Wambua, an operation to recover the bodies of his wife and child had not begun almost 20 hours after the incident was reported.
Heads to roll
On Tuesday, MPs demanded to have officials in charge Kenya Ferry, the Navy, Kenya Coast Guard held responsible following the delayed recovery response after the incident.
Managing Director of Kenya Ferry Services Bakari Gowa and Navy Commander Major General Franklin Mghalu were put on the spot after their teams failed to respond in time despite being posted a few metres from the scene of the accident.
The Kenya Coast Guard Director General Brigadier Vincent Loonena whose department should have been on standby for search and rescue operations has also been put on the spot by the legislators.
Operations at Ferry Suspended
“We will not mince our words. On this incident, heads must roll. We believe that there were gross incompetence and dereliction of duty on the part of Kenya Ferry Services, the Kenya Coast Guard and the Kenya Navy,” the MPs said.
“We demand that Kenya Navy personnel which did nothing despite being just metres from this incident be cited as per relevant internal military statues,” the lawmakers added.
On Wednesday morning, operations at the Ferry Channel were suspended for 3 hours to allow divers retrieve bodies of Mrs Kigenda and her daughter Amanda.
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