A family of a middle-aged woman in Malindi town, Kilifi County is seeking compensation from the County Government of Kilifi after a County Inspectorate vehicle knocked her down causing her life threatening injuries.
The family of Ms Winnie Ondisa narrated how the family had struggled to offset medical bills for her and her younger brother who got involved in a head-on collision with the carelessly driven County inspectorate vehicle that was chasing after a Passenger Service Vehicle (PSV) van in August 2018 when it lost controlled and rammed into the motorbike that the two had boarded.
During the accident, Ms Ondisa said that she sustained two serious fractures on one of her limbs and passed out only to wake up minutes later at the Malindi Sub County hospital.
She added that the boda boda rider had died moments after arrival at the hospital since he came into direct impact with the Toyota double cabin pickup truck with number plates KBG 269C while the force threw them some distance away.
“I was nose bleeding before I briefly passed out but I saw how the driver had lost control and came towards the bike even after we had moved out of the road. The driver was chasing after a matatu when he lost control and descended on the opposite lane where we were. Our rider tried so hard to evade the accident but it still happened,” she said.
According to Ms Ondisa who had just completed high school then, the accident has made her life difficult as she can no longer engage in strenuous activities because of the metal plates in his limbs and usually experiences pain whenever she is exposed to cold weather.
“Ever since the accident my life has changed and when I am in a cold place my leg hurts and gets swollen. My mother was also affected health-wise since she spent all she had, hence exhausting every coin that she could have used to educate us,” she said.
Mrs Zinafa Aseyo who is Winnie’s mother now wants the County government of Kilifi to compensate her daughter since she has missed a lot of opportunities ever since she got involved in the accident.
“Her medication consumed a lot of money and I was forced to sell my piece of land just to make her heal but right now she is stuck and cannot be employed to perform heavy duties. She could have joined college but I don’t have that money since it all was consumed in medication,” she said.
Her brother, Fabian Otieno said that her sister’s medication forced the family to sell land and fundraise hence leaving them with nothing. They are now being hosted by her mother’s sister.
“My mother sold the only land we had and my sister took more than six months to be back on her feet but we still have to cater for her medication since she’s not yet fully healed,” he said.
Mr Otieno urged the County government to rein in its drivers who were driving county vehicles carelessly and called on Governor Gideon Mung’aro to intervene so that her sister can be compensated.
The driver of the ill-fated County truck is listed in court documents as Leis Joseph Mwawali and he was allegedly arrested and released mysteriously.
The family says that the civil case that was filed in 2019 seeking compensation has never moved.
