David Mugonyi
24 May 2002
Victims of the 1998 bomb blast have reacted with anger at reports that they will not compensated by the US government.
They immediately narrated to the Nation the trauma they still face following the bombing.
Many said the humanitarian aid provided by the US was not adequate as they still needed medical attention.
The chairman of Visual Seventh August, Mr Douglas Sidialo, described the proposed legislation in the House of Representatives as racially inclined.
Speaking to the Nation on telephone, He asked: "Why should Kenyans and Tanzanians not benefit from the Bill, yet we suffered because of the Americans?"
According to the proposed new law approved by the US House of Representatives, non-Americans will not be compensated by the United States for the Nairobi and Dar es Salaam embassy bomb blasts.
A survivor, Ms Florence Ng'ong'a said: "The presence of Americans made us suffer. I have had two miscarriages because of the blast and I need medical attention every month." Ms Ng'ong'a questioned why every nationality was being compensated for the September 11 terrorist attacks while only Americans were benefiting for the Nairobi and Dar es Salaam blast.
"I woke up with swollen eyes today and I need to see the doctor; you can imagine what this did to us," the Teachers Service Commission employee told the Nation by telephone.
Ms Ng'ong'a suffered physical injuries and was forced to use spectacles for failing eyesight.
Another survivor, Mr Samuel Nyagah, who is partially paralysed and needs physiotherapy, said: "I don't know how we will meet our medical expenses."
Medical and educational assistance provided to the victims and their families stops next month.
Kabete MP Paul Muite termed the action discriminatory. "It is immoral and exposes the ugly side of the Americans."
The US lawmakers voted overwhelmingly by 391 votes to 18 to provide compensation for deaths or injuries only to US citizens in the 1998 bombings.
But the White House quickly voiced its opposition to the proposal, saying it would unfairly provide different amounts of compensation based on victims' incomes.
A California Congresswoman announced she will introduce a Bill to provide compensation for Kenyans and Tanzanians injured in the attacks carried out by Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda terrorists.
"More than 4,000 Kenyan and Tanzanian nationals were also injured in the bombings," said Congresswoman Barbara Lee, an African-American.
"They were a productive part of their countries' labour force. I am introducing legislation to provide relief for these individuals."
The embassy bombing law approved by the House on Tuesday would establish a compensation system similar to that created for the victims of the September 11 suicide hijacking in the United States.
One key difference, however, is that the new law rules out payments to non-US citizens. The law providing relief for the September 11 attacks stipulates that citizens of other countries were entitled to receive compensation on the same basis as US nationals.
The bombings in Nairobi and Dar killed 224 people people, most of them Kenyans and injured more than 5000. The survivors are pursuing a compensation suit at US District Court in Washington, DC.
The State Department has provided $37.8 million (about Sh3 billion) in humanitarian aid to help victims rebuild buildings destroyed by the blast but denies any liability and has asked that the case be dismissed.
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