I am not a conventional person, the
common man in the street inspires me than the stacked up men. Don’t get me wrong, I have
nothing against the ‘BIG’ man and woman. I have learnt that still waters run
deep. This will help me speak about body bags for trench casualties.
Recently when Chief Justice Dr. Willy Mutunga was swearing in
the Kenya Police Oversight Board he said something that echoed in my ears. He
reminded the committee that their job will be hard, punctuated with threats and
opposition. He then did a ‘Joshua’ declaration; as for me I am ready to die in
the trenches of reform, chose today which trench you would like to die in. History has taught many Kenyans that it is not worth to die in the trenches, will the committee transform our police force?
I know people who have died in trenches of all kinds and
it is never good. The trenches are always dug at the battle
frontline, where the crossfire is hot. It is painful because most of
them die at the prime of their life as it is the best in society who usually
take positions at the front of the pack.
Long before Barack Obama electrified the world with his
oratory skills; I met Ayoki Nyawanda and Prof. Okoth Okombo. Obama is a good orator but Mr. Ayoki, my former village chief is a man who could leave a grieving widow in stitches of laughter
just before burying her husband. The guy had a good command of dholuo that made his humorous straight
talk hilarious. Prof. Okombo is a professor of words, an intelligent and gifted
speaker. I am always astounded by people who God gave one gift he felt I don’t
need so let me keep writing.
Sorry for the digression, it is good the CJ wants to die in
the trenches as much as he is no longer a foot soldier. I respect Paul Kagame, the only head
of state I follow keenly, not only on twitter but in the world media as well. My
profile pictures on social media are all of this great African who is way ahead
of his peers in Africa. But, my war hero against the 1994 genocide is a man
called Captain Mbaye Diagne.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgdU1B2bzxw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgdU1B2bzxw
Captain Mbaye Diagne was a Senegalese soldier who did a
sterling job as a UN peace keeper during the Rwandan genocide. Nobody knows how
many people he saved, when his employer the UN was not interested in what was
happening in Rwanda. He smuggled Tutsis out of the country and protected some
in the safe zones he created.
One day on his way back from a mission, Hutu extremists
stopped him at a check point and shot him dead. Know what, there was no body
bag to put his remains in. The United Nations did not have body bags in Rwanda-
this is what gives Koffi Anan the goose bumbs he gets nowadays when he hears of
romours of war in Kenya, Syria and other countries.
Captain Mbaye Diagne’s remains was packed in UNICEF plastic
bags and flown to Senegal. This is what caught me while watching a documentary
given to me by my Pan-Africanist friend Genza- who knows that If I ever get expelled from Kenya for subversion, I will be a proud Rwandese the next day. Meeting Paul
Kagame is in my bucket list, and one thing I will ask him is if his government
has ever honoured Captain Mbaye Diagne and others of his kind.
He was courageous even when his commander and colleagues were
rendered helpless by lack of support from New York. Taking the matter in his
own hands to fight from the trenches, kicking armed Hutu extremists to clear road blocks as he drove Tutsi’s out of Kigali. Dr. Willy Mutunga, this is what it means to
die in the trenches. Remember, when you die; there may be no body bags to put
your body in- you may be delivered home like stale beef for disposal.
When you pick up a cause, fight it like Captain Mbaye Diagne-
I would rather die like him than live to be haunted like Koffi Annan. Don’t get
me wrong, Annan also has his story to tell. Captain Mbaye represents many other
anonymous heroes the world over, who choose to die for the good of others.
Rwanda government officials always say that the world cannot lecture them on anything when
they stood and watched leaving the burden on people like Mbaye.
There is a man who had a toothy smile in a grim situations,
smoked a lot- to calm his nerves and got the job done. Despite risking his life
he remained a soldier by obeying orders from a disinterested UN in New York not
to carry a gun. Mbaye Diagne is my hero!
A corruption of Koffi Annan
