Emotions ran high at Gathaithini village in Nyeri county yesterday
after it emerged that nine of the murdered quarry workers were cousins
who had moved to Mandera about a month ago.Speaking at their homes, distraught family members said their kin had moved to Mandera a month ago following government assurance that the area was safe to work and live in.
Mary Gakenia, 60, who lost her 36-year-old fifth-born son Samuel Kinyua said he had survived the December attack but left home two months ago after assurance the area was now safe. “My son left with his cousin who lost his life, too.
Two months ago he promised that he would be back this month, but I was informed of his death by a relative who survived yesterday’s attack,” she said. Kieni MP Kanini Kega said eight of those killed were from his constituency and urged his constituents who are still in Mandera to leave with immediate effect.
Eight out of the 11 injured in yesterday’s attack were flown back to Nairobi and are undergoing treatment at the Kenyatta National Hospital.
Another Nyeri resident Stephen Gachagua lost a son in the attack and relatives who gathered to console them criticised the government for failing to provide security to Mandera residents. Their son Fredrick Kimeru sat his KCSE exams in 2009 and went to work in Mandera alongside his cousins.
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