The family of a seven-year-old boy who was killed by a self-propelled tea harvesting machine in Kericho is now demanding compensation.
Through lawyer Phillip Langat, the family wants James Finlay Company to take full responsibility for the death.
The incident happened on January 16.
“We are going to look at all the Acts especially the Law Reforms Act and the Fatal Accidents Act to ensure the family gets justice,” Langat said
He also accused the company of ‘sneaking’ into the family to try and negotiate the amount to be paid contrary to the common practice.
“We have learnt that the company has asked the family to write a letter requesting for compensation and it is unfortunate because that is not how the law operates,” he said.
“You cannot sneak in when the family is still bereaving and ask them to decide how much they want to be compensated the company cannot decide the much it is going to compensate, it is the law that will decide.”
The deceased’s sister and uncle said even though they had written to the company, it had yet to come out clearly on how it would compensate the family for the loss.
In an earlier statement, the general manager in charge of Corporate Affairs Sammy Kirui said safety was a priority for the company and that they were investigating the incident to understand how it occurred.
When reached for a comment over the allegations by the family, Kirui said they are doing it as per the legal process.
“That is the legal process. We are waiting for a post-mortem report on Tuesday so that we can open an inquest file,” he told the Star on phone.
