1998 bombing anniversary: Karua calls for justice and vigilance
By Nancy Marende, August 7, 2025People Liberation Party (PLP) leader Martha Karua has urged the country to recommit to justice, vigilance, and a zero-tolerance approach to impunity in the fight against terrorism as Kenya marks the 27th anniversary of the devastating August 7, 1998, bombing.
In a statement on X on Thursday, August 7, 2025, Karua honoured the memory of the more than 200 people who lost their lives and the thousands who were injured when a truck bomb exploded outside the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi.
“We remember the tragic bombing of August 7th, 1998. We mourn the lives we lost, and we honour the survivors,” she stated.
“We need to recommit to a Kenya where no citizen lives in fear. Fighting terrorism starts with justice, vigilance and zero tolerance for impunity,” she added.
Victims and survivors
This comes a few months after victims and survivors of the devastating bombing appealed to President William Ruto to intervene in their prolonged struggle for justice and compensation.
In a statement on May 7, 2025, the survivors expressed frustration over persistent delays in court, government silence, and what they termed a lack of political will to address their plight.
“Twenty-six years after the deadly bomb aimed at the U.S. Embassy blasted and tore through the heart of Nairobi, we—the survivors, the bereaved, the forgotten—are still bleeding. Our wounds may not be fresh, but they are deep. And they have never been healed,” the statement read.
The group criticised the office of the Attorney General for repeatedly seeking adjournments in an ongoing case at the Milimani Law Courts.
“The Attorney General keeps adjourning our case. To date, they have not yet submitted their side. Are they planning to stall our case forever? Are we going to go back on the 23rd of this month to be turned away because they ask for a continuance again? When is the end?” posed Justus Kimathi, the chairperson of the consortium.
Kimathi noted that in 2023, an ad hoc Senate Committee led by Senator Agnes Kavindu issued a report recommending that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs help the victims committee secure an audience with the U.S. Congress.
However, Kimathi said that the proposal has been ignored.
“We did not wait quietly; we wrote to the Cabinet Secretary, begging for this step to be taken. We are still waiting,” the statement reads.
The survivors are now turning to President Ruto to acknowledge their suffering and to take decisive steps.
“We now cry out to our President: please see us. Please hear us. Please fight for us. Our pain is not political; it is human,” said Kimathi.
The consortium is also appealing directly to U.S. President Donald J. Trump to recognise the attack as a tragedy that occurred on U.S. soil abroad.
“Mr. President, this tragedy happened on U.S. soil abroad. We were collateral in a war that was not ours. Yet we have carried the burden for over two decades, alone. You have the power to do what others before you did not. Break the silence. Break the delay. Break the chains of suffering that have bound us for so long,” the statement noted.