Senate committee says compensation of 1998 bomb blast victims is long overdue

Machakos Senator Agnes Kavindu. [File, Standard]

The American government was on Saturday faulted for the delayed compensation of Kenyan bomb blast victims at their Nairobi Embassy 25 years ago.

A House committee led by Machakos Senator Agnes Kavindu, said the compensation for both those who lost lives and those injured was long overdue.

"This was not a Kenyan mistake but the American who the attackers were coming for and therefore the Kenyan victims suffered on behalf of the US," she said, adding that the 213 Kenyans who lost their lives and more than 5,000 injured have not received justice.

Kavindu was speaking in Machakos town where the committee met victims of the 1998 bomb blast.

Some 24 victims from Machakos said they were living in poverty after they lost their jobs and also got maimed.

The Senate committee is going round to counties on a fact-finding mission to piece together information on the bomb blast victims.