Kenya: Military on the Spot over Death of Five Boys

By Eunice Kilonzo

Ewaso Kedong--- Five young boys were on May 8 killed in a dreadful explosion set off by a military mortar bomb. The 2pm explosion occurred 25 kilometers north of Ngong Town when the five boys were out grazing calves in Ole Maroroi Village.

At the field, the boys found the 40mm mortar bomb which they started playing with unknown to them that they were sitting on a time bomb which finally detonated. The explosive hit their faces, abdomen and legs disfiguring them to death. According to the area Chief John Tupana, the explosion was heard several kilometers away.

The children, aged between six and 12 years, were relatives with two of them siblings. Those killed were Letuya Salash, 12, Joel Salash, 8, Sunguya Keshu, 9 and Boniface Masenka, 7. Panai Keshu, 12, was taken to a Kenyatta hospital where he later died.

"We call upon those who train here to always comb the field to clear such explosives before they leave," Chief Tupana said.

The device, which police described as an anti-personnel bomb -the round fired from a mortar -was almost certainly an unexploded munitions from the nearby Ngong Range, used for training by the military and police. The incident raises questions over the conduct of the military personnel who use the field for training, and why they do not pick up bullets and unexploded ordinances from the field after finishing their exercises. The last group of soldiers to train at the venue were said to be from the Kenya Airforce. Locals and police said the soldiers were there for two days about two weeks ago.

Bomb experts were sent to the scene and confirmed that the explosion had been caused by a bomb, a team was immediately sent to another group of children that had found a similar device and taken it home, some two kilometres from the site of the explosion.

Mr John Salash, who lost two of his sons in the explosion (Letuya Salash, 12, Joel Salash, 8), heard an explosion thirty minutes after the boys had gone to graze. He rushed to the scene about 100 meters and found five little boys lying motionless, though one was still breathing.

He asked the government to ensure that all unexploded ordinance are cleared after training.

Mr John Mesenga Kuperi said that he lost his only child, five-year-old Boniface Mesenga, who left home around 11am to join his friends.

Another parent, Mohammed Keshu, lost a son while the other was seriously injured. Six-year-old Sunguya Keshu died on the spot while Panai Keshu was taken to Kenyatta National Hospital in critical condition.

Chief Tupana said they had picked many live bullets from the area and handed them over to authorities in the past weeks. Area resident Dickson Ole Ntikoisa said such unexploded munitions were common in the area. His sister lost an arm when a similar device exploded in the same area, he said. Animals have also been killed, especially by stray bullets from the shooting range, he said. Residents asked the government to relocate the shooting range elsewhere. Officers from CID’s bomb disposal unit led by the head Eliud Lagat arrived at the area and collected samples of the exploded mortar bomb saying they were yet to know the origin. The officers added that they would destroy the unexploded mortar bomb.

The Ngong incident is not the first one to happen in Kenya. In Samburu where local and military personnel from Britain usually train, bombs and other explosives are usually found abandoned. There have been protests in the area over the explosives amid calls on authorities to take precautionary measures to deter such deaths. The two communities in Samburu had sued the British government for injuries caused by military ordinances allegedly left behind by their British Army. In July 2002 a deal was negotiated for the payment of £4.5 million (Sh630 million) plus costs to the 233 Kenyan victims injuries by munitions left by British forces in training in Samburu. Action Aid had contacted British law firm Leigh Day & Co on behalf of the victims. More than 200 accidents have been recorded in the area where the British forces have been carrying out exercises, with 90 percent of them involving children.