Tuesday
April 19, 2011
April 19, 2011
STEPHEN MUDIARI | NATION Some of the women who lost their husbands in the Wagalla massacre.
By SAMUEL SIRINGI ssiringi@ke.nationmedia.com And ISSA HUSSEIN newsdesk@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Monday, April 18 2011 at 22:00
Posted Monday, April 18 2011 at 22:00
In Summary
- Three elderly women with serious deformities paraded as the truth team probes torture
Bitter memories of one of Kenya’s worst cases of human rights violation were poured out on Monday as the truth commission started public hearings into the Wagalla Massacre.
Widows - all dressed in white - and men and women with deformities packed a hall in Wajir where they spoke out on the government-sponsored torture and killings of men at a local airstrip 27 years ago.
At one point, the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC), sitting at the Red Cross Centre, had to physically examine a survivor who lost his manhood in the 1984 massacre.
“He never slept in the same house with his wife,” said a former chief, Mr Garat Osman, himself a victim of the massacre which the government said claimed 57 lives.
Local residents, however, said more than 3,000 people were killed and 4,000 unaccounted for.
On Monday, a former livestock officer, Mr Abdi Ismali, had to take off his shirt to show injuries sustained as he fled from the airstrip.
Three elderly women with serious deformities were paraded before the audience as the women in white shed tears.
The three witnesses who had spoken by 2pm when the commission closed its opening session said the government should apologise and compensate victims of the massacre if Wajir residents are to embrace the ongoing healing and reconciliation efforts.
“Communities have reconciled but we need the government to apologise and compensate them,” said a former chief, Mr Bishar Ismail.
Mr Mohamed Dagane, a former navy soldier, said there was need for the government to apologise. This is despite Prime Minister Raila Odinga having apologised when he visited the region in February, he added.
He also called for the development of the North Eastern region, noting that the area had consistently been ignored. He said the province hardly had a tarmacked road or a national school.
The commission made ruled that an outdated law, the Indemnity Act, would not affect its determination to call high-profile witnesses, including former permanent secretary Bethuel Kiplagat.
Commissioner Ron Ron Slye said that TJRC had the powers to call all those said to have played a role in the security meeting held shortly before the massacre.
The commission has invited Mr Kiplagat, a former area district officer, Mr Godfrey Mate, and Mr Stephen Amarachi, who represented the police commissioner in the Wagalla investigations.
Government accounts say those held were interrogated for three days, and a scuffle erupted when the district commissioner, accompanied by the local police division commandant, got to the airstrip.
Some people in the crowd fled while others shouted at government officers. In this confusion and stampede, 29 people died from either gunshots or were trampled on, while 28 others were killed when the army met some resistance.
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