Court orders K251m compensation for victims of July 6 stadium stampede
The High Court in Lilongwe has ordered the Ministry of Youth and Sports to pay K251million to families affected by the accident at Bingu National Stadium on 6th July, 2017.
The 2017 Independence Day Stadium stampede killed eight people, seven of them children and left over 40 injured, most of them children as well.
High Court ruled last Monday that the compasation should be paid to about 20 families.
A presidential commission of inquiry, among others, blamed crowd control methods by police for the stampede.
Some sections of the society blamed government for leaving all the preparations and management of the events on the day in the hands of former governing Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) leaders, side-lining the Football Association of Malawi (FAM) and stadium workers.
Lawyer representing the affected families, Gift Nankhuni, confirmed the court’s ruling.
“We settled for K251 milliona. All documents were signed before the court. The affected families knew what was happening. They saw the documents and I believe they are satisfied.
“I hope these families might receive their money when the budget is passed in parliament,” explained Nankhuni.
A representative of the grieving families, Moses Kalipinde said they welcome court’s ruling.
Foseki
You took too long to sort out this matter. In fact this should have been settled by people who were managing the stadium. If the gates were open in advance this could not have happened. You waited until thousands of people were at the gate and then you decided to open.you caused the death of innocent people.
Ops Dpp government should have settled and Apm should also assist