The Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) confirmed on Friday that it has sued three government officials for negligence and failure to protect victims from the recent heavy rains and flooding in the country.
Kelly Malenya, a lawyer for KHRC, told dpa by phone that the commission had filed the matter in court on Thursday.
KHRC has sued cabinet secretaries Kindiki Kithure (Interior Ministry), Soipan Tuya (Environment Ministry), and Alice Wahome(Lands Ministry). The country’s attorney general, Justin Muturi, is also implicated in the case, as well as Kenya Railways and several other government agencies.
He said KHRC was seeking several orders from the court, including immediate humanitarian assistance and compensation for victims.
KHRC argues that some of the suffering and deaths could have been avoided since there were adequate warnings issued by the Kenya Meteorological Department (KMD).
"We take the position that the state actors failed in their obligation, and that’s the case we have presented in court," Malenya said.
At least 257 people have died in Kenya during the rainy season since March. The environmental damage has also raised the risks of contamination, disease and landslides, with a fourth cholera outbreak confirmed by the German aid agency Welthungerhilfe.
According to the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, torrential rainfall and flooding since March has caused devastation in Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi, Somalia, Rwanda and other parts of East Africa.
Storms during the long rainy season are not unusual. This year, however, the torrential rain has been intensified by the El Niño weather phenomenon. Experts say climate change has also exacerbated this regularly recurring weather phenomenon.