Nairobi — The government will not compensate victims of the 1998 Nairobi bomb blast after the High Court dismissed a petition seeking damages, dealing a blow to a case that had been filed more than two decades after the attack.
In its decision, the court found that the petitioners failed to demonstrate negligence or omission on the part of the State in relation to the Al Qaeda-linked attack on the United States Embassy in Nairobi.
Justice Lawrence Mugambi ruled that the petition did not meet the legal threshold required to establish government responsibility, stating that liability could not be inferred from the evidence presented before the court.
The petitioners had argued that the State ignored repeated security warnings and failed to take preventive measures, including strengthening border security, despite alleged knowledge of an imminent threat.
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However, the judge rejected this position, noting that the claims were not supported by verifiable proof.
"The obligation placed on the State is clear. The State must take positive steps to prevent violations of the right to life," ruled Mugambi.
"the burden of proof lies on the person who desires the court to believe in the existence of facts."
On the question of timing, the State maintained that the petition was lodged after an unreasonable delay, arguing that the passage of more than 20 years since the attack had significantly disadvantaged its ability to respond to the claims.
In response, the petitioners told the court that they had remained in communication with government offices over the years and were repeatedly led to believe that compensation was under review.
They further argued that constitutional matters are not strictly constrained by limitation periods.
Justice Mugambi accepted this explanation, finding that the delay had been sufficiently accounted for.
However, the court faulted the evidentiary basis of the petition, observing that the reports relied upon were not supported by sworn affidavits from their authors.
Justice Mugambi further noted that no tangible proof had been presented to show that Kenyan authorities had received actionable intelligence prior to the attack and failed to respond.
The judge also declined to grant orders seeking a declaration of State responsibility or to compel the President to appoint a commission of inquiry, ruling that such actions fall within the mandate of the Executive and not the judiciary.
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The August 7, 1998 bombing of the United States Embassy in Nairobi remains one of the deadliest terrorist attacks on Kenyan soil.
The suicide attack killed at least 213 people, most of them Kenyans, and left more than 4,000 others injured.
A near-simultaneous bombing targeting the US Embassy in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, killed 11 people.
The attacks were later claimed by the Al Qaeda terror network and marked a turning point in global counter-terrorism efforts, as well as Kenya's own security and anti-terrorism framework.
