Sakaja: Owner of Embakasi gas plant must compensate victims
Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja has stated that the owner of the LPG gas plant which exploded and left six people dead must compensate the victims.
The governor claimed that the owner is a rich businessman who must compensate all the victims of the illegal gas plant that went into flames on February 1, 2023.
“The county will also compensate the victims with something small, and the owner of that place must compensate the victims because he committed an offence. He is a rich man, he has other similar businesses,” Sakaja said.
The governor said that the county has taken the responsibility of paying the medical fees for all the victims of the explosion.
“All the victims being attended to at county hospitals in Nairobi are treated or free, and those who are in other hospitals such as Kenyatta National Hospital and other national hospitals will receive our help. We have spoken with other leaders including Health CS and they have agreed to leave that to us,” Sakaja said on Wednesday when he appeared for an interview at Radio Jambo.
This comes after the four suspects linked to the Mradai gas plant were arraigned before Milimani Courts on Tuesday.
The four include the owner of the plant Mr Derrick Kimathi, and three officials from the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) who were suspended following the deadly incident which left more than 280 victims with injuries.
The governor said that his administration is well prepared to respond to fire incidences and other emergency issues.
On Tuesday, the governor paid a visit to the victims and gave an order for a crackdown across the county targeting illegal gas businesses.
The Opposition Leader Mr Raila Odinga blamed the county for poor urban planning which led to the recently witnessed incident.
Mr Odinga said that the government should compensate each victim with Sh500,000 to allow them to start afresh their businesses which were affected by the fire, and to take care of their families.