The Senate Ad hoc Committee pushing for the compensation to Kenyan victims of the August 7, 1998 bombing on the US Embassy in Nairobi is slated to commence its sittings on July 28.
A programme of activities released by the Committee Secretariat says the Senator Agnes Kavindu-led team will start off by hearing submissions of the victims of the bombing disaster and their representatives.
Senate set up the Committee after it emerged that survivors and families of US citizens have been compensated under the Justice for United States Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Act, but Kenyans are yet to be paid 25 years later.
“The Ad Hoc Committee will then attend the Victims Prayer Day at the Bomb Blast Site on Saturday, 05th August 2023, before attending the 25th Anniversary of the US Bombing at the August 7th Memorial Park on Monday, 7th August 2023,” read the programme.
Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Alfred Mutua and US Ambassador to Kenya Meg Whitman are also lined up to meet the committee.
Mutua who is expected before the Ad hoc team on Friday, will highlight steps the Government has taken to ensure the USA Government compensates Kenyan victims.
The Committee says the meeting with Whitman which is slated for August 22, 2023, will deliberate on the plans the USA Government has regarding the Kenyan victims.
The National Council of Persons with Disability have also been invited to air their grievances since some of the bombing victims are members of the Council and have been left with permanent scars.
The Ad hoc Committee will hold a public hearing on August 23 before it retreats to prepare its report which will be tabled in the Senate by the 21st of September.
At least 213 Kenyans and 12 Americans were killed in the attack orchestrated by the Al Qaeda tourists group targeting the US embassy.
More than 5,000 people were seriously injured in the bloody bomb blast that greeted Kenya’s capital on August 7, 1988.
