The families who lost their loved ones in the May 2018 Solai Dam tragedy in Nakuru County have finally agreed on an out-of-court compensation deal with the dam owners.
In the tragedy, 47 people died, and thousands were displaced from their homes in the surrounding villages of Energy, Nyakinyua, Endao, Arutani, and Milmet.
On Tuesday, the Standard confirmed that the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC), which represented 29 families in a court case has struck a deal that will see the families of adult victims get Sh1.2 million while those of minors paid Sh800,000.
Mary Kambo, the Program Manager at KHRC confirmed that the victims' families and Solai Dam owners struck a deal on Tuesday, November 7, 2023.
She said the case, which has been in court since 2018, was referred to arbitration on October 19, 2023, when some families wrote to the court seeking out-of-court settlement.
The families argued that the case had dragged on in court without an amicable solution.
According to Kambo, the Chief Magistrate's court in Naivasha allowed the negotiations because it was driven by the victims themselves.
"The victims felt aggrieved every time the matter went to court in Naivasha because their wounds were being awakened. They felt it was the time to end the pain and start fresh," said Ms Kambo.
Kambo said at first, dam owner Perry Mansukhlal had proposed to pay Sh500,000 for adult victims and Sh300,000 for minor victims.
However, she claimed the deal felt less satisfying to the families and through KHRC, they negotiated the deal to be vamped up to Sh1.2 million for adults and Sh800,000 for minors.
Kambo said the protracted negotiations involved the victims, the office of the Director of Prosecution (ODPP), the lawyers of the dam owners and the owners themselves.
"Our lawyers represented 29 victims and 18 were represented by other organizations. However, they will all benefit from the agreement," she said.
Kambo, however, said they were not satisfied with the deal but felt that negotiating it upwards would have been impossible since human life cannot be valued.
"We explained to the victims' families that human life cannot be valued even if they are paid millions. They understood that they needed something to mend the relationship with the dam owners," she said.
Kambo said for some of the families, the deal was good since what was important to them was finding closure for their losses and starting a new life with something to look forward to.
According to Kambo, families admitted that Mansukhlal was helping the community in Solai and had built schools and dams that provided education and water for the residents.
"Victims were tired of the court case that acted as a constant reminder of the tragedy. When the deal came, they accepted," she said.
Kelly Malenya, the victim's lawyer, said they used the Kyanguli fire tragedy to argue their compensation case.
The tragedy occurred on the night of March 25, 2001, when a dormitory at Kyanguli Secondary School in Machakos County, Kenya was set on fire in an act of arson by two 16-year-old students of the school. In the incident, 67 people died, 21 were injured, while 70 survived from a dormitory of 200.
Mr Malenya insisted that although the families would have wanted more compensation, their arguments had to be constrained within the requirements of the law and compensation act.
Malenya recalled that the case went to court in 2018, where Mansukhlal was charged with 47 counts of manslaughter alongside manager Vinoj Kumar and seven other people.
After release on a bond of Sh5 million, their trial commenced, and 75 witnesses took to the stand.
And on April 27, 2023, they were found to have a case to answer.
However, Malenya said that Mansukhlal and three others testified, but the families felt the case had dragged on in court and wanted closure.
"The ODPP was at the centre of the negotiations. The families informed us that all they wanted apart from compensation was an apology," he said.
Malenya said on Tuesday that Mansukhlal attended the negotiations and apologized to the families, promising support to them.
The case will now be mentioned on November 20, when the consent will be presented before the court in Naivasha for deliberations.
Malenya hopes the court will adopt the consent and dismiss the case.
