Messy politics: 22 years struggle with a bullet in my body

Peter Wamukota at his Nalongo village home in Mt. Elgon displays x-ray results showing a bullet lodged in his foot 25 years ago in what he alleged was a plot to finish him due to his political stand against the regime then. PHOTO: CHRISPEN SECHERE

February 27, 1994 remains a dark day in my life as I had to battle with three police officers whose aim was to end my life.

Their attempts to kill me, by spraying me with over 10 bullets, bore no fruit even though eight bullets ended up hitting my left leg.

While seven of these have since been removed, there remains one bullet still lodged in my body.

My ordeal, which has lasted for 22 years now, started during the multiparty push of 1992 which led to formation of Forum for Restoration of Democracy (Ford).

I was appointed Ford chairman in the then Bungoma District (now Bungoma County) a position which I have vowed never again to hold in my life.

Before joining politics I was a businessman in the region running successful businesses but things changed that fateful day when I was attacked by police officers and today I am forced to beg well-wishers to support my medication.

Weeks before the attack, some police officers informed of the plan to end my life but I did not take it seriously. It was not until I got a second tip off from the same police officers of the plot to kill me that I decided to report the matter at the nearest police station.

I recorded a statement at Malakisi Police Station on January 25, 1994 but nothing was done to guarantee my security.

On the day when the attack happened, I was at my shop when at about midnight - three police officers attacked and sprayed me with bullets. I only survived the ordeal because of my neighbours who rushed me to hospital.

At the time, I had no idea what lay ahead of me. I certainly did not know that I would be at Bungoma District Hospital for close to a year, leaving my children to languish in poverty with no one to cater for their needs.

At the hospital, only four bullets were removed since the rest could not be seen at the time and had to be removed later.

After my long stay in hospital where pain became a constant companion, my ordeal did not end there.

Immediately I was discharged from hospital, the police arrested me and locked me up at Nzoia Police Station for 13 days without trial. My family was also not allowed to see me during this period.

I was later taken to Webuye Police Station for five days without being arraigned or charged in court. I was later moved to Kamiti Maximum Prison then arraigned in court where I was charged with attempts to overthrow the Government.

I remained in detention for six months where I was thoroughly beaten and molested. I was tortured as a way to make me confess that I was planning to overthrow the Government. Some of my fellow prisoners died due to this harassment and beatings.

I was eventually released in 1995 and went back home to seek medication. From my deathbed, I struggled to survive and cater for my family but things did not go as expected. I failed to raise money for my medication yet my health continued to deteriorate.

Nothing much has changed. I have sold my land and everything I owned to a tune of Sh1.7 million but I am yet to get better. I still need more than Sh700,000 to heal and be able to walk again.

The remaining bullet in my leg is affecting my bones which have started to decompose and this is now complicating my life.

From the ordeal I suffered I have vowed not to support any political party or hold any political post since those we worked with abandoned me.

Nobody from Ford, which later split to Ford Asili and Ford Kenya, Ford People and New Ford Kenya, ever visited me in prison or in hospital. They left me to suffer the ordeal alone and even now I am left to seek assistance from well-wishers.

It has been a difficult, painful lesson to learn. Politics cost me everything and very nearly took my life.