KFS Board Fired as Justice for Family Involved in Likoni Tragedy Starts

The last one month has been tragic for the family of John Wambua after his wife, Mariam Kighenda, and four-year-old daughter, Amanda Mutheu, sank into the Indian Ocean in the view of glaring mobile videographers.

The Country literally came to a standstill as videos of the car which onboard had the young Amanda and her mother did rounds on social media, the head of the family, John Wambua was to receive the news first from twitter before the Kenya Ferry called in.

Questions have been asked on whether there was nothing that could be done to save Mariam Kighenda and her toddler daughter, Amanda, with most witnesses saying the car floated for over 15 minutes which should have been sufficient to rescue them.

Witnesses have also alluded to the fact that the Kenya Navy was in sight when the Likoni tragedy car was sinking, practicing for the upcoming Mashujaa day, but they did not put in an effort to rescue Mariam and Amanda.

A tragedy had occurred; a mother and her daughter lay on the floor of the Indian Ocean for 13 days with the World turning its focus to the Kenyan government which has never looked more helpless.

President Uhuru Kenyatta kept his silence in the eyes of the public, may be too embarrassed by his own government’s inability to ensure safety to its citizens, how a car would slide off a ferry left many confused.

President Uhuru has decided to send the whole Kenya Ferry Services board packing in a special gazette notice dated 16^th of October 2019, revoking the appointment of Dan Mwazo as Chairman of the Kenya Ferry Services board and Daula Omar, Naima Amir, Philip Ndolo, Rosina Nasigha Mruttu as members.

“IN EXERCISE of the powers conferred by section 7 (3) of the State Corporations Act, I, Uhuru Kenyatta, President and Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Forces of the Republic of Kenya, revokes the appointments of Dan Mwazo, Daula Omar, Naima Amir, Philip Ndolo, Rosina Nasigha Mruttu, as Non-Executive Chairperson and members of the Kenya Ferry Services Limited, with effect from the 16th October, 2019,” the notice reads.

John Wambua accused the Kenya Ferry Services over the death of his wife and daughter saying his wife, Mariam Kighenda, was an experienced driver and he believes she would never have made such a mistake to reverse out of the ferry midstream.

A post-mortem conducted at Jocham Hospital mortuary in Mombasa on the bodies of Mariam Kighenda and Amanda revealed that the two died out of suffocation.

There can never be justice to the family of John Wambua but it sure is important that effective people are at the helm to avoid such tragedies in the future.