The Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC) has been ordered by the High Court to pay over Ksh500 million in compensation for the Nakumatt Supermarket Kenyatta Avenue fire that occurred on January 28, 2009, claiming 30 lives.
Justice Jacqueline Mong’are ordered KPLC to pay Woolworths Limited USD 3,085,600 (Ksh41.5 million) for loss of rent, Ksh7.4 million for land rent and rates, Ksh58.5 million for the value of the building, Ksh4 million for the cost of demolition and reimprovement of the property, Ksh185,600 for Quantity Surveyor fees, Ksh243,600 for legal fees, and Ksh469,800 for carting away the debris, together with interest from August 13, 2009.
The judge also granted the owner general, aggravated, and exemplary damages, along with interest from the date of her judgment until payment in full.
In her judgment, Justice Mong’are held KPLC responsible for the fire outbreak at the premises, stating, “In view of the foregoing and the testimony rendered before this court and in the absence of any other evidence to the contrary, I am persuaded that there is prima facie evidence before this court to suggest that KPLC is solely to blame for two fire outbreaks at the suit property.”
However, she absolved Nakumatt Holdings Limited and its director, Atulkumar Maganlala Shah, of any blame for the fire and the loss of property and lives.
