This archive report was first published on 18 October 2019.
On October 16, 2019, President Uhuru Kenyatta made a long-overdue decision, revoking the appointments of the Kenya Ferry Services board members in a special gazette notice.
The move comes after the tragic deaths of Mariam Kighenda and her four-year-old daughter Amanda at the Likoni Ferry Channel on September 29, 2019. Their car slipped off the MV Harambee ferry and sunk in the Indian Ocean, with their bodies being retrieved 13 days later.
According to the gazette notice, President Kenyatta revoked the appointment of Dan Mwazo as Chairman of the Kenya Ferry Services board and Daula Omar, Naima Amir, Philip Ndolo, and Rosina Nasigha Mruttu as members, citing section 7 (3) of the State Corporations Act.
“IN EXERCISE of the powers conferred by section 7 (3) of the State Corporations Act, I, Uhuru Kenyatta, President and Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Forces of the Republic of Kenya, revokes the appointments of Dan Mwazo, Daula Omar, Naima Amir, Philip Ndolo, Rosina Nasigha Mruttu, as Non-Executive Chairperson and members of the Kenya Ferry Services Limited, with effect from the 16th October, 2019,” the notice reads.
Following the tragic incident, the family of the deceased has revealed plans to sue the Kenya Ferry Services. The agency has already issued two cheques worth Sh100,000 each to widower John Wambua and the late Kighenda’s father, Peter Mwaghogho Mwanyasi.
