A group of survivors and families of victims gathered at the August 7 Memorial Park in Nairobi on Thursday to mark 27 years since the 1998 US embassy bombing.
The event was filled with prayer, memories, and a call for compensation that has gone unanswered for nearly three decades.
The attack, which killed 224 people and injured over 5,000, mostly Kenyans, remains one of the worst terror attacks in the country. Yet for many survivors, the pain is not just about the loss, it is about being forgotten.
“Life has never been the same. We are not asking for too much. We just want support, free medication and compensation. We have waited too long, and some of us have sadly passed,” said Michael Nyakanga, one of the survivors.
Nyakanga, who worked for Kenya Breweries at the time, was caught in the blast after visiting the Cooperative Bank with a friend.
“We had just parted ways. I was walking back to the office when I heard a loud explosion. I fell down, and glass shattered all over me. My eyes were injured. I was treated at Kenyatta National Hospital, but I still struggle. The US and Kenyan governments gave us help then; counseling, treatment, but many of us are still suffering to this day. That help ended long ago,” he said.
Another survivor, Simon Ayienda, had gone to the Cooperative Building with a friend when the blast occurred.
“I thought it was a tyre burst at first. Then we saw people screaming, and glass rained on us. I was badly injured and treated for six months at Kenyatta. But I have never fully recovered,” said Ayienda.
Ayienda said that as the result of the injuries sustained, he lost his job, could not educate his children and has lived in poverty.
Rose Kwamboka, who was four months pregnant at the time, worked at Posta and had gone to withdraw money at the bank.
“I was inside the lift when everything went black. When I came to, I was lying in blood. People were screaming. Some were unconscious.”
The psychological toll has been just as heavy as the physical injuries. Rose said her life changed that day; at work, at home, and in her relationships.
“I was never the same again. My husband left. I struggled to raise my son who was in high school then. I still live with fear and trauma,” she said.
Michael Macharia was only three years old when the bombing killed both his parents. He did not understand what had happened until much later.
“I used to think maybe my parents had just travelled and would come back. I waited. But as I grew up, I learned the truth,” he said.
Macharia said being raised by relatives has not been easy. “There have been more bad days than good ones. I have struggled.”
At the memorial, survivors gathered around the names engraved on the wall, and laid flowers.
Ali Mwadama, the chairperson of the victims association, expressed frustration at how survivors have been neglected.
“We come here every year, but it feels like the government has moved on without us. Americans who were injured or lost loved ones in the attack were compensated. We were not,” he said, adding that some have died while others remain too poor to buy medicine or pay rent.
As part of the commemoration, the Memorial Park, Matatu Owners Association and the Galana Energies offered free rides on different routes in the city.
In recent years, some progress has been made in US courts. A lawsuit filed in 2008 by over 600 victims led to the awarding of billions of shillings from Sudan and Iran, which were found to have supported al Qaeda.
In 2020, the US Supreme Court upheld the damages. But these court awards have not benefitted the Kenyan survivors.
Last year, a Senate Ad-Hoc Committee tabled a report calling for support to the victims and urging the Kenyan government to lobby the US to expand compensation.
The report acknowledged that survivors continue to suffer and that a good percentage of them were breadwinners.
But since then, survivors say nothing has changed.
“We heard about the Senate committee, but we have not seen any results. We will not stop asking. Even if we die, our children will continue the fight,” said Mwadama.
