Sally Bett is seeking Justice after her daughter Emily Chelangat Died Due to City School Negligence
Sally Bett is seeking justice after her daughter Emily Chelangat died due to the negligence of Our Lady of Mercy South B School management in Nairobi six years ago.
Bett says her daughter contracted meningitis, a condition that could have been prevented if the school administration could have informed her in advance.
“My daughter would be alive today if the administrators of the school cared to seek better medical care for her, its sad that my daughter was just sleeping on the bed without being given any medical attention a condition that could have been corrected if the schools management could have taken her to hospital ”
“It’s sad that I only came to hear of my child being sick during the closing day where I had gone to pick her as usual. I was informed she was very ill. I asked the matron of her whereabouts but she was rude and told me to go and look for my child,” she said.
She says after talking to the deceased, said narrated how matron had been beating her up in the dormitory forcing her to wash her clothes yet she was sick.
Emily was taken to a hospital in Namanga but her condition worsened and she was moved to Nairobi West Hospital in a semi-coma.
“After taking my daughter to Nairobi West Hospital I was told that she had meningitis, a disease that she had contracted from the school due to its poor ventilation. She was taken to ICU where she lost her eyesight and was paralyzed just because the school management ignored her right to proper medication while in school,” she added.
Doctors said had she been brought earlier, the disease would have been detected and treated.
She said despite going through a lot, the school did not stand with her and to some extent said the student did not belong to that school.
“After eight months of home care, Emily died on March 4, 2016 and Mrs. Bett and her husband informed the school that has since denied them access to Emily’s school belongings,” she said.
The mother of the deceased said that she sought help from then CS Education Dr. Fred Matiangi but in vain since it was not easy to access him.
“After failing to be assisted in the Ministry of education my friend took me to a nominated mp who helped and directed me to the education committee of the national Assembly which was by then headed by Hon. Sabina Chege and I had hopes of being helped,” Bett said.
She recalls that the committee had a meeting with both the parties and gave her a letter to the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights for further assistance.
“I took the letter to the officer and gave it to one a person by the name Mr. Victor Kamau the head of legal Unit at the commission he assured me all was well and that they had been directed by the committee of education to conduct and extensive investigation into the matter , and investigation that was also conducted in the said school, they also obtained medical reports,” she narrated.
After some time she says the officer told her that everything was okay since they had gotten all the information they needed to commence with the matter in court and hoped that she could get justice.
“It is sad that despite Victor Kamau telling me that all was fine, I have not gotten justice six years down the line,Every time he keeps telling me to come the day after tomorrow ,every now and then its now six years.Why are they taking me right, left and center is there something I don’t know,” she wondered?
She is now suffering from diabetes, high blood pressure , and depression, a once healthy woman who weighed over one hundred kilograms is now weighing less than 50 kilograms.
“I urge Hon. Sabina Chege, you are a mother like me you did a lot as the chair of the education committee kindly help me get justice for my daughter , my condition is deteriorating,”
The deceased died at the age of 17 years while she was in form three.
“I usually don’t sleep and every morning I go to her grave to pray for Chela so that one day I might get justice. Those people who knew me cannot recognize me now since my health has deteriorated just because of the journey I have undertaken in search of justice for my daughter.” she said.
Valentine Bett, the sister of the deceased, says her mother’s condition worsened since the demise of Chela.
“My mother has been sick since my sister died, if we can get justice it will be good for our family as i am talking now we are all suffering. I need to be near my mom all the time since she can’t do without me,”
Dennis Kiptoo cousin to the deceased “We urge the government to help her get justice to continue with her work, as a family we have never moved on since her death,”
The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights- KNCHR legal officers led by Cyrus Maweu affirmed their commitment to ensuring that Emilly Chelangat receives her justice.
“The matter is very active at the commission and we are committed to ensuring that she gets justice and that is the position of the commission ,” Said Maweu.
Victor kamau the head of the Legal Unit at the KNCHR has distanced himself with the allegations of denying Sally bett the long awaited justice he says the Commission is ready and willing to take up the matter in court.
“I am a human right defender i have risked my life in course of defending justice , i will not and i cannot deny Sally Her justice , we have been waiting for her to produce hospital receipts to support her claims of spending over Ksh 3 million as medical expenses ,i assure her if she produces these documents the following day we will go to the court,” said Victor.
Chepngetich’s family has pleaded with Kenyans to help them get the long-awaited justice to realize closure of the case and aid in their healing and moving on with their loss.
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