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Nairobi , February 02, 2009

First Lady Mrs. Lucy Kibaki consoles 19 year old Christine Amimo a victim of Sachangwan inferno at Kenyatta National hospital where she visited the vicitims.

First Lady Mama Lucy Kibaki today visited and consoled victims of the Sachang’wan fire tragedy admitted at Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH).

The First Lady particularly visited the hospital’s burns and critical care units where she spent time giving the patients words of comfort and wished them quick recovery.

Noting that most of the fire victims were young people, the First Lady asked doctors and nurses at the hospitals to give them proper treatment and special care.

She sent a message of condolences to the families of those who perished in the recent fire tragedies and wished all those in hospital quick recovery.

Later while addressing a press conference outside the wards, the First Lady said she was deeply saddened by the death of innocent Kenyans as a result of the Nakumatt and Sachang’wan fires.

“I was deeply saddened to see what happened at Nakumatt Supermarket and was more saddened by what happened on Saturday in Molo where 118 people died and many others are in hospital,” the First Lady said.

Regarding the Sang’wan fire, the First Lady said she was not only saddened but also angry that so many people lost their lives in a tragedy that could be avoided.

She asked the Provincial Administration to be in the forefront in sensitizing wananchi on the dangers of scooping oil from accident tankers, saying wananchi are innocent but need to be given adequate information that could prevent unnecessary loss of lives.

“These tragedies happen but they are ignored. Those in-charge should make effort to give civic education so that wananchi can avoid activities that could expose them to glaring dangers,” the First Lady said.

The First Lady also called on legislators to be sensitive to the plight of their constituents by initiating projects that will eliminate absolute poverty and uplift their standards of living.

She regretted that children were dying in some constituencies in the country because of eating wild fruits and yet there are Members of Parliament who represent those areas.

“Members of Parliament should respect those who elected them and work towards ensuring that they are not exposed to inhuman situations that force them to eat wild fruits,” the First Lady said.

Mrs. Kibaki challenged leaders to perform their duties well in order to serve those who elected them, saying the country needs leaders who can deliver and not those who only engage in empty talk.

Mama Lucy also asked the rich in society to be mindful of other Kenyans and stop exploiting them, noting that some of those who died were scooping oil so that they could sell to the rich.

Noting that there has been an increase of road accidents which have caused the loss of lives of many Kenyans, the First lady appealed to wananchi to avoid boarding buses and matatus that are driven by drunk drivers.

The First Lady also asked traffic police to ensure that drivers strictly adhere to traffic regulations to prevent the loss of lives through preventable accidents.

Present were Public Health Minister Beth Mugo, the Head of Public Service and Secretary to the Cabinet Amb. Francis Muthaura, Kenyatta National Hospital Chief Executive Officer Dr. Jotham Micheni and KNH Board of Directors Chairperson Margaret Wanjohi among others.