BIG AND SMALL NAMES THAT DEFIED THE ORDER.
The people who stood up against president Moi. Some who the govt of Moi even tried to eliminate, others who were allegedly killed by the govt operatives for speaking out against govt evils.
The struggle still lives on
***THREAD***
June 16, 1982 University of Nairobi lecturer David Mukaru Ng'ang'a is picked by police from a bar in Thika.tortured during solitary confinement where he was kept naked immersed in cold water. Ng’ang’a died in 1997 in a Swedish hospital while on self-exile nairobinews.nation.co.ke/news/mukaru-fa…
Bishop Alexander Kipsang Muge
Muge, who is remembered for being an ardent critic of bad governance and champion of justice, died in unclear circumstances on the Eldoret-Busia highway in 1990.
Father John Anthony Kaiser
He died on 24 August 2000, five months after he was awarded the Law Society of Kenya annual Human Rights Award for being “a study in courage, determination and sacrifice on behalf of the weak, oppressed and downtrodden.”
Gibson Kamau Kuria
Gibson Kamau Kuria was once detained in a maximum-security prison for nearly a year.
His crime? Representing and defending Wanyiri Kihoro, a former political prisoner who himself had been detained and abused in a torture chambers.
Maina wa Kinyatti
3. June 7, 1982: Kenyatta University Lecturer Maina wa Kinyatti is charged with possessing seditious publications. Jailed for six years for possessing a seditious publication.
Professor Katama Mukangi sociologist
...and one of the people behind underground publications Mwakenya, Mpatanishi and Mzalendo was arrested and detained by the Moi regime.
Professor Wangari Maathai
Maathai has been pilloried by the Kenyan president, Daniel arap Moi, who said she had ‘insects in her head’ after she opposed plans for a 60-storey tower in a Nairobi park.
She was also arrested, detailed and assaulted on multiple occasions.
John Khaminwa
June 4, 1982 Veteran Nairobi lawyer John Khaminwa is detained. He was picked up by plain clothes officers at his Karen home and taken to CID Headquarters. He was again detained in 1990 during the clamour for multi-party democracy.
Gitobu Imanyara
Mr Imanyara is led to the court cells after being charged with incitement on July 25, 1990. He was a lawyer & editor of Nairobi Law Monthly newspaper.He was among the many multiparty democracy activist. In 1997 he was elected MP for Imenti Central in Meru county.
George Anyona
Along with others he, were arrested at Mutugi's bar in Nairobi in 1990 and charged with sedition.
...the court declared them guilty of plotting to overthrow the government and being in possession of seditious publications. They were jailed for seven years.
Prof Edward Oyugi
July 11, 1990 at Mutugi's Bar in a Nairobi suburb for holding an unlawful meeting aimed at overthrowing the government and for possessing seditious publications. They were later sentenced to seven years' imprisonment.
Njeru Kathangu
Arrested at Mutugi's bar
"I was put in prison from 1976 - 1980 because of questioning the murders of JM. As a captain in the air force, I refused to suppress rioters who were demanding to know the murderers and whereabouts of JM Kariuki." standardmedia.co.ke/entertainment/…
Prof Isaiah Ngotho Kariuki, Former Dean, Faculty of Commerce, UON
Perceived by President Daniel arap Moi as the brains behind Mwakenya, a Swahili acronym for Patriotic Union of Nationalists to Liberate Kenya.Sentenced to 7 years behind bars.
Willy Mutunga
August 12, 1982: Nakuru North MP Koigi wa Wamwere and University of Nairobi lecturer Willy Mutunga are detained. Koigi was among the 'Six Bearded Sisters' group.
Koigi wa Wamwere
August 12, 1982: Nakuru North MP Koigi wa Wamwere and University of Nairobi lecturer Willy Mutunga are detained. Koigi was among the 'Six Bearded Sisters' group.
Kenneth Matiba:
The The firebrand politician was detained in July 1990 for agitating for Kenya’s return to multiparty politics. Matiba would suffer stroke several times while in detention.
Raila Odinga
September 22, 1982 : Raila Amolo Odinga, a son of former Vice-President Odinga Odinga, is charged with treason. He was tortured and held in terrible conditions following the failed 1982 coup. His detention lasted nearly six years.
Titus Adungosi
Was imprisoned for 10 years on sedition charges, becoming the first civilian convicted in connection with the 1982 coup attempt. Titus Adungosi Oloo, was found guilty of demonstrating in support of air force rebels who seized several areas of the capital.
September 15, 1982: Seventeen servicemen of the disbanded Kenya Air Force are jailed by a court martial for terms ranging from 12 to 25 years and dismissed from the armed forces.Senior Private Hezekiah Ochuka, Sergeant Pancras Oteyo, Corporal Bramwel Injeni Njereman etc...
Peter Mwagiru Kariuki - Airforce Commander 1982
Was the highest ranking military officer to be jailed for the 1982 coup attempt that tried to overthrow Moi and to be stripped of his precious title. Jailed for four years for failing to suppress and prevent a mutiny.
Salim Lone, Journalist
His troubles under the Daniel arap Moi regime worsened to the point where he fled to the US to avoid arrest in June 1982, His citizenship was subsequently revoked by President Moi for "disloyalty" to Kenya, but restored in 1993.
Mwandawiro Mghanga
On February 10, 1985, University of Nairobi student leader Mwandawiro Mghanga inspected a guard of honour mounted by students.
Alongside five other students, he was charged with convening and attending an illegal meeting and jailed for one year.
Professor Micere Mugo
She was the Dean, Faculty of Arts, University of Nairobi. By 1982, she had authored several books, including The Trial of Dedan Kimathi written with Ngugi wa Thiong’o.
Got into trouble for having an independent mind. She fled into exile in the US.
Dr Robert Ouko
Former US Ambassador Smith Hempstone, claimed in his book that Mr Moi allegedly witnessed the murder of the then foreign minister Robert Ouko, in February, 1990.
In March 1990, Muite, a lawyer who has been highly critical of the government, was elected as chair of the LSK and immediately called for the repeal of Section 2a of the Constitution. He was arrested at a banned rally at Kamukunji in November of the same year.
James Orengo [Orengo Jimmy]
One of the radical “Seven Bearded Sisters”, he was exiled in Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe in the early 1980s to escape the repressive Kanu regime. Orengo became well known for his fight against unjust rule and spent several years in detention.
Martin Shikuku
“I have never been to any university, but no university in the world has a department called Faculty of Experience,”
He was one of those referred to as "the bearded sisters" and was arrested and detained alongside Paul Muite on November 16, 1990 at Kamkunji.
Masinde Muliro
In 1975, Muliro was the only minister to vote against the government over the murder of JM Kariuki.
He was a prominent member of Ford and even announced his candidature for president in 1992 before he collapsed and died at JKIA
Hezekiah Rabala Ochuka
As a Airforce Senior Private Grade -1 (2nd lowest grade), Ochuka masterminded the 1982 coup, was chairman of the People's Redemption Council & ruled Kenya for 6 hours on August 01, 1982.
Born in 1953, he was hanged on May 17, 1987 for the coup attempt.
Corporal Fenwicks Chesoli Odera Obedi
Sentenced to death on 9th February 1983 by a Court Martial sitting at Langata Barracks and hanged in 1986 for committing treason during the 1st August 1982 coup attempt.
Born in 1953, he was known for his eloquence and smart mannerisms.
Airforce Captain Frank Munuku
Was arrested and detained for eight (8) months with two months under solitary confinement without arraignment or being charged in court with any offence, on suspicion of involvement in the 1982 coup.Won a compensation case later on.
Bedan Mbugua - Journalist and Magazine Editor
Mr Mbugua lost his job as Editor in Chief of Beyond magazine, which in 1988 had highlighted massive election rigging.
He was arrested again in 1994 while while at People Daily for highlighting interference in a court case.
Charles Rubia
Was elected the first black mayor of Nairobi in 1962 & was a second liberation hero alongside Kenneth Matiba
Rubia was arrested twice and illegally confined during the Nyayo era. And during the detention, he suffered poor health and his family was devastated.
Alamin Mazrui
Professor and Author of "Kilio Cha Haki" was arrested and detained under the Preservation of Security Act in 1982 and spent 18 months at Kamiti. On his release, he couldn't find work at any Kenyan institution and fled into exile first to Nigeria then the US.
Wahome Mutahi
He was first a District Officer in Machakos before becoming a writer of the Sunday humour column, Whispers.
He was arrested on October 15, 1986, with his brother Njuguna Mutahi for allegedly being members of Mwakenya.
Mugo Theuri
Co-editor of “We Lived to Tell”, a collection of tales from survivors of the Nyayo House torture cells, was jailed for three years in 1986 after being held for 49 days in a cell full of water on suspicion of being a member of Mwakenya.
Wachira Waheire
Was only 25 fresh out of uni when He was arrested on December 2, 1986 and locked up at Jogoo Road Police Station. He was later tortured at Nyayo House before being transferred to a maximum security prison, where stayed in solitary confinement for four years.
Israel Agina
On September 3, 1986, special branch officers raided his residence in Buruburu Estate. He was taken to Westlands Police Station then Nyayo House torture chambers where he stayed for 96 days. He was later moved to Naivasha then Kamiti prisons and released in 1989.
Silvanus Christopher Oduor
Was arrested in 1986 from his workplace at the Kenya Society for Deaf children. His captors did not disclose the reasons for his arrest. After 78 days being tortured at Nyayo House by James Opiyo, Oduor was jailed for six more years.
H.N. Ochieng' Kabaselleh, Benga Musician
Was part of the 1982 Air Force at one time and was arrested and detained at Nyayo House for allegedly being a member of Mwakenya. He was jailed for three years and died shortly thereafter from the effects of torture.
Jaramogi Ajuma Oginga Odinga
Doyen of Kenyan politics, Pan-Africanist and Kenya's first VP. He was detained at Hola 1970-1972 and following the failed coup of 1982, was placed under house arrest in Kisumu. In 1991 he co-founded and became interim chairman of FORD.
David Munyakei
Kenya's first corruption whistleblower.
He was a clerk at CBK when he blew the whistle on the Goldenberg scandal by providing CBK documents to opposition MPs. This resulted in his arrest, sacking, poverty & subsequent death in Narok from pneumonia.
Constable Naftali Lagat
He arrested Kamlesh Pattni one night in November 1991 at Nairobi's Wilson Airport carrying 100kg of gold from Bunia, Zaire. He defied orders to release him from the director of Intelligence, who it turns out was also involved in Goldenberg.
Tirop arap Kitur
In 1985, he and fellow student Karimi Nduthu made a speech condemning government infiltration of SONU
He was expelled from the university, but stayed put for one year until they were forced out of the campus by anti-riot police.
Karimi Nduthu
A student leader at the UoN, Karimi was imprisoned for 14 years in 1986 for being a member of Mwakenya.
Released in 1992, he died on March 23, 1996, a victim of murder.
Quote: "Jail me if you like," he had said "But change, like death, is inevitable."
Solomon Muruli
A student leader at UoN, he died mysteriously on February 23, 1997 of an explosion in his university room at Kikuyu Campus.
Muruli was described by his colleagues as having strong political convictions but not a radical deserving death.
Wafula Buke
SONU chairman for 9 days in 1987, he was detained on suspicion that he was spying for the Libyan government which by then was at loggerheads with the Moi regime. He was later imprisoned only to be released after introduction of multiparty politics in Kenya.
Dr. Oki Ooko Ombaka
Expelled from UoN in 1974, Ombaka finished his law degree at Dar-es-salaam. Moi once questioned how a blind man could lead a Constitution review process when Ombaka, now blind from a mysterious illness, was Vice Chair of the Constitution review commission.
Rev Timothy Njoya
On new year's eve 1990, Rev. Njoya was the first Kenyan to call upon the govt to revert to political pluralism while still residing in the country. Assaulted multiple times by Moi-era govt goons, Rev. Njoya became the face of steadfast resistance in the 90s.
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THE DEMONSTRATIONS THAT LASTED ELEVEN MONTHS and THE DAY MOTHERS STRIPPED NAKED.
On March 3rd 1992, mothers of the political prisoners stripped naked at Uhuru park to demand for the release of their sons caught in Moi's torture chambers.
***A LONG THREAD***
Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, the political atmosphere in Kenya was characterized by brutal government repression and terror, under the de-facto single-party rule of President Daniel Arap Moi.
Any form of political dissension was swiftly met with government interrogation, detention, and torture, using the justification of the Public Order Act, the Chiefs Authority Act and the Sedition Law.
Nganyi the Rainmakers of Abanyore was untouchable & feared by many.
It was believed that he came from the hereditary line of rainmakers,who also had supernatural powers to unleash thunder on their enemies.
***THREAD***
He was also known as the high priest of the god of rain, fertility, fire, clouds and hail.
However in 1898, he was arrested by CW Hobley who frogmarched him to Mumias.
So what prompted Hobley to frog match the most feared man among the Luhyas?
At that time there was a long drought that resulted in famine in most parts of Kavirondo and natives (Luhyas and Luos) knowing the powers of Nganyi turned to him for intervention.
Meet Memba Kenyatta, a con who used to masquerade as Jomo Kenyatta's son in Europe.
Photo: Memba Kenyatta, a Kenyan man claiming to be Jomo's son is seen with his wife Julia Gonzalez Memba, and baby inside an Italian police van in Rome in 1960.
***THREAD***
On the day the photo was taken, Memba Kenyatta was being arrested for causing trouble. Memba, claiming to be Kenyatta's son, had caused trouble at veneto by insulting and spitting on passers-by, demanding the release of his "father" Kenyatta.
When his wife tried to restrain him, he assaulted her too. The police consequently arrested him and took him to a mental hospital for cure.
Julia Gonzalez de Memba who was an Italian journalist,had married Memba in 1956 after he convinced her that he was Kenyatta's son.
The monarch tradition that would be called witchcraft if done in Africa
After Philip died he wasn't buried.Prince Phillip's body will now be removed from where it has been kept since his death in 2021 & taken to where Queen Elizabeth will be laid to rest
THREAD
In 2021 Philip's body was lowered 15 feet into the 200-year-old Royal Vault beneath St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle where it has remained to date. This was just a temporary resting place to await the death of the Queen one day.
Traditionally as a consort of the Queen, Philip always had to be two paces behind the Queen. There’s a very specific reason: the Orders of Precedence --- The Queen always took the lead--- and this applies in death too.
THE FIRST BETRAYAL.
From freedom fighters to terrorists.
The betrayal of the Mau Mau fighters by Jomo Kenyatta was so loud. Let's see what Wanyiri Kihoro says.
*** LONG THREAD***
As derived from the 📖 "The Price Of Freedom" by Wanyiri Kihoro.
Did you know due to biting poverty after 9 years in prison Kenyatta's first house was constructed through contributions by Kenyans? Did you know Kenyans bought him his first land after prison?
After he was released from prison,Kenyatta's return to politics was planned by the colonial govt.governor Renison facilated Kenyatta's return to politics on dec 1961 by amending Legco legislations that barred any person imprisoned for more than 2 years to participate in politics.
In 2016 Raila Odinga said Jubilee and uhuru had failed, you believed that the govt had failed. William Ruto defended uhuru govt and you repeated what he said like a parrot. You believed the govt has really worked.
***THREAD***
In 2022, William Ruto tells you the govt, which he defended and publicly said has delivered, has failed. You believe him and praise like your god. Raila Odinga today tells you that Jubilee govt hasn't really failed, and like the fool you are, you have swallowed the bait.
In 2017, Raila Odinga said that the elections should go electronic way, he insisted no manual registers should be used. William Ruto argued and insisted manual registers should be used. In 2022, Raila Odinga want manual registers as back up and William Ruto want pure electronic.