By Francis Orina
When Thomas Onduto left his Nyamira home for Mombasa 30 years ago, he expected good tidings and a happy life.
So upbeat was he that Thomas promised his parents, Mzee Ezekiel Onduto and Mama Mary Onduto that their lives would never be the same.
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Thomas was 24.
Unknown to the family, Thomas was to die the very day he reported to work at the Kenya Ferry Services (KFS).
The accident paved the way for Thomas’ parents to sink further into the den of abject poverty.
Thomas was among the 272 people who perished when the Mtongwe Ferry capsized in the Indian Ocean, just about 40 metres from the shore.
The water vessel had 400 travellers aboard when the accident occurred, plunging Kenya and the wider world in shock and disbelief.
Over 30 years down the line, Onduto and his wife Mary have not healed, let alone emerged out of the snares of poverty.
“April 29, 1994 was very sad day for us and the sadness is yet to be erased,” Onduto recalls.
“On that day, news reached us that our first born son was aboard the Mtonge ferry and he had died.”
The report was shallow and they did not know how to pursue it further.
“We did not get to know how the accident happened owing to the poor means of communication those days,” he recalls.
They were forced to rely on information from the District Commissioner (DC)’s office.
They also dispatched their kin to Mombasa, and it took them about a week to arrive and come back with an update, which, unfortunately, did not exhaust the questions that continue to trouble the family to date.
“Thomas was only 24 years old and had finished his high school education when a relative secured him a job with the Kenya Ferry Services (KFS),” his father recalls.
“He had travelled to Mombasa a week before the fateful day.”
The accident happened in the very morning when he was meant to reporting.
Now old, Onduto says he has never been shaken as he was when the tragic news reached him.
“He was my first born son and as a family we had hopes in him having gotten a letter to work in Mombasa,” Mzee Onduto said.
After the funeral, families of those who succumbed and the survivors regularly recorded statements and submitted documents to the government in the hope that they would be compensated.
A lawyer at the KFS offices in Mombasa and another at the now defunct provincial headquarters in Kisumu were coordinating the exercise.
“We sold our cattle and a small piece of land just to cater for the several travels to Mombasa and Kisumu to submit the documents,” Onduto recalls.
“We also attended forums for verification of the documents and to ascertain the beneficiaries of the victims.”
The family says that they have information that several families have over time received compensation from the government.
On 22nd June, 2017, the Daily Nation newspaper carried an announcement that required families to resubmit the documents for those who were yet to receive compensation.
“I wonder why we are yet to get compensation as promised by the government,” Onduto said as his wife listened.
“Since my son died in 1994, we have had 4 presidents: Daniel Moi, Mwai Kibaki, Uhuru Kenyatta and now William Ruto. When are we going to be compensated?” wondered Mary.
She expressed concern that unless the government concludes the matter, they may die before getting compensation that the justly deserve.
Several things have changed since the time Thomas died.
For example, the KFS exits no more and its services were taken over by the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA).
The parents claimed that only about 57 families of the Mtongwe tragedy who are yet to be compensated, adding that they were shocked when some unnamed government officials told them that it was only the president who would intervene and solve their predicament.
A source at KPA said the matter cannot be handled by them.
“We don’t wish to wait indefinitely,” Onduto said as he asked President William Ruto to step in and end their suffering that had lagged on for over 30 years.
