Dictator Moi illegally "disbanded" the Kenya Air Force after the August 1st coup attempt. Former servicemen were rendered unemployed & thrown out without being paid their benefits. A large number suffered & died from alcoholism & substance abuse. Others survived on menial jobs
The dictator embarked on a well oiled surveillance & monitoring of every single former serviceman. They were banned from state employment. They couldn't use their skills to work in security firms, aviation or transport. Those who got such jobs would lose them under state pressure
In fact hiring a former KAF serviceman was equated with sedition. A politician who hired some in his security detail was accused of plotting to overthrow the dictatorship. Lack of police certificate of good conduct barred them from jobs yet the servicemen had no criminal record.
They were regularly arrested on trumped up charges or interrogated by the #SecretPolice. Being seen in the company of a ex-KAF serviceman was an offence by itself. Prosecutors would routinely cite such in show trials as proof of guilt: "The accused pals with Ex-KAF personnel"
We'll never know how many were victims of extra judicial killings. What's undoubtedly true is a majority died young. A few are still alive but condemned to a lifetime of biting poverty. What a waste of life
Yet these are courageous men who sought to take on a brutal dictator. Kenya should be honoring each one of them & have students learn about them. Life size statues should be erected in places where national traitors now stand proudly admiring the fruits of their treasonous acts
