Narc-Kenya party leader Martha Karua has stated that time has come for the US and Kenyan governments to have conclusive talks on how victims of the August 7,1998 bomb blast in Nairobi will be best compensated.

Speaking during the 25th anniversary of the terror attack on Monday, Karua said that the long-stayed conversation around the compensation of the victims has become of age and the two states must be deliberate on how they will compense the families of the victims.

"What could we have done better to expedite compensation for the victims? It's better late than never apart from the courts battle I think that a time has come when the two governments must sit together and see what can be done. It is not enough to say the matter is in court, both governments have a responsibility," she said.

"Kenya took the bullet on behalf of the US we cannot continue waiting for justice for the victims may this be the year that the victims of this terrible crime finally have closure and their compensation." 

She further lauded the survivors for their resilience in their quest for justice, noting that they have played a pivotal role in standing against injustices and exploitation of Kenyans from the international community.

"It is your resilience that has seen this even be commemorated every year. I urge that the day also be one to celebrate those who departed, you have memories of them as families and friends," she said.

"For the survivors, it's a day to thank God that indeed you survived and lived to tell the tale. It is also a day to ask has justice been done? 25 years on still waiting for compensation."

Her sentiments were echoed by Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka who added that "the time to bring closure is now", urging Kenyans to not quench their fight for justice.

This comes in the wake of a compensation call by opposition leader Raila Odinga who said he has made proposals seeking to amend the law to include Kenyan victims and their surviving spouses among those eligible for recognition and compensation under the US Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Act. 

The Sudan government in 2021 released some $335 million (Ksh.39 billion) towards compensating the victims as a condition by the US to be cleared from its list of state sponsors of terror.

The suspects of the attack on the US Embassy in Nairobi were said to have been harboured in Sudan for planning in the run-up to the attack.

However, the Kenyan victims were not included in the list of the potential beneficiaries as it targeted only victims who were US nationals or workers for the country’s embassy at the time.

Some victims have said that the US government only supported them for three years from 1999 but left them afterwards.