Family moves to court over Sh420,000 pay out for man who fell into boiler

A Thika-based rolling mills is entangled in a compensation dispute with late Caleb Otieno’s family, their employee who died mysteriously in a steel boiler last month.

This is after the family threatened to sue the employer over the compensation they were offered.

According to the family, the company informed them that they will be paid Sh7,000 monthly and this would translate to Sh420,000 in total for the number of months remaining in Otieno’s contract.

Otieno’s father told a local TV station that he was offered Sh100,000 when he asked about compensation.

“The HR manager told me that they would compensate me with a third of Sh21,000 that my son was earning per month for the five years he worked as a permanent employee,” Martin Oraro stated.

Oraro termed the compensation offer by the company as a scorn to the family.

He pointed out that the company did not take into account the horrific manner in which Otieno died.

He stated that the company committed to giving all employees insurance cover for accidents at their place of work.

When Caleb fell into the boilers, his body was liquified and mixed with melted steel. They managed to find a few of his remains which will be laid to rest on Saturday.

Otieno’s family suspects foul play in the accident, however, police have not yet revealed how Otieno ended up in the boiler.

Thika West Director of Criminal Investigations Joseph Thuvi said the matter is under investigations.