Kibera family in mourning after 3-year-old boy killed in house fire

A family in Kibera is mourning the loss of their 3-year-old son Stephen Ambani ahead of plans to lay him to rest at their home in Kabras, Kakamega County.

Ambani succumbed to severe burns sustained during a fire that razed their house in Kibera’s Makina area.

“I had left the house to fend for supper and left Stephen asleep. There was no electricity when I left. On my back, I was alerted by some of my neighbors my house was on fire,” the deceased’s mother Mediatrix Ambani recalled.

Passers-by and neighbors rushed to put out the fire, but it was too little too late to save the minor.

Eric Muhando, the boy’s father, claimed a poorly fixed electricity connection was the cause of the fire that left his home ruined.

“I have lost my son and valuables. I have to start again. Live wires run through my home and I know that is what led to my son’s death when power came back,” he said.

The landlord however remained adamant, claiming the cause of the fire was a result of irresponsibility by the child’s parents.

“The cause of the fire is not the illegal connection as they claim. All the houses in this area would have been razed down if it were the cause of fire,” he said.