Kang'ata Counters NTV Exposé Linking Him To Ethiopian Airlines Crash Scandal

Murang’a Governor Irungu Kang’ata, a trained lawyer, has addressed accusations that some of his former Senate staff were falsely named in a petition as relatives of victims from the March 2019 Ethiopian Airlines crash.

The governor has come under scrutiny for his involvement in a compensation case against American aircraft manufacturer Boeing and the airline, which gained prominence in 2019.

An investigative report aired by NTV on Wednesday revealed that two of Kang’ata’s former Senate staff—Davis Mburu Karanja and Peter Njuguna—along with their associates, Jane Wairimu and John Kunyia, have accused him of involving them in a fraudulent scheme.

The individuals allege they were wrongly listed as next of kin to the crash victims, despite having no familial connection to anyone who died in the tragedy.

Wreckage after an Ethiopian airlines plane crashed in 2019. /NAIROBI LAW MONTHLY

The petition in question, which was submitted to the Senate on June 19, 2019, urged the government to expedite the issuance of death certificates to allow affected families to pursue compensation.

However, eight people were listed as having lost relatives, yet none of them had suffered such a loss nor were aware their names were being used in the petition.

Davis Mburu Karanja, who served as Kang’ata’s coordinator for Maragua constituency during his Senate tenure, claimed he discovered the existence of the petition by chance.

“When we were looking at my name on the internet, we found that my name was appearing in the list of the victims of the families that had lost members of the plane air crash,” Davis narrated.

“What we did was one night. When we heard that the Ethiopian airline had been paid, we decided to learn more about the story. So one night when I was sitting with my laptop, I wrote my name and the phone number or the ID, and I saw my name appearing in there."

He added "There is a certain link. There was a petition about the Ethiopian air crash where I am appearing together with other staff who we worked with in the Senate; I am a victim who has been affected in some way by the death of the people who died in the crash."

In a statement issued on Thursday, May 8, Governor Irungu Kang’ata however denied any involvement in misconduct and sought to clarify the status of compensation efforts for the actual victims of the Ethiopian Airlines crash.

He maintained that neither he nor his former Senate staff benefited personally from the matter in question.

"All real victims whom we represented in the United States got paid, and none have complained. None of the eight mentioned were compensated. This is a 2019 issue that was duly crossed, and all compensation relating to my clients (Kenya accident victims) was duly paid," he said.

"My Senate debate on the issue did not confer any gain either to myself or the purported staff. I will continue using my legal skills to fight for Kenyans successfully, including in the US and wherever else."

Kang’ata’s response followed the NTV exposé, which revealed that in May 2019, American lawyers had published newspaper advertisements seeking collaboration with Kenyan legal practitioners to pursue compensation claims on behalf of Kenyan victims.