Following are excerpts from Simeon Nyachae’s autobiography Walking Through the Corridors of Service in which he captures the tense moments after the death of Tom Mboya
One of the most significant and tragic events in Kenya’s history was the assassination of Tom Joseph Mboya. I was still the Rift Valley PC when this happened. Mboya’s death took Kenyans by surprise. It shocked many.
Protestors take to the streets when the death of the former minister and trade unionist was announced. |
TJ, as he was popularly known, was an intelligent and charismatic leader.
He was popular with citizens and was a witty and clear thinker. A lot of people, including politicians, claimed to be statesmen. For me, this is the man I saw to have been truly serving Kenyans wholeheartedly and deserved to be called a statesman
Although born in Nyanza Province 300km or so from the capital city, he had lived in Nairobi for long. Mboya was deeply involved in trade unionism. He had trained in public health and trade unionism at Ruskin College Oxford in the United Kingdom. Kenyans did not see his death coming neither did they grasp the reasons for his assassination. He was widely seen to have exceptional potential for
national leadership. Politically, he may have been a threat to other senior politicians at the time that may have plotted his death.
Having worked with Mboya, the announcement of his death on radio shocked me to the marrow.
On that bright morning, I had gone to Muhoroni area where my family had some limited interest in a farm we owned with other partners. Later on, I drove to the farm for lunch. As I was leaving the farm, I heard the announcement of his death on the
VOK (now KBC). I quickly checked with the provincial police boss and friends at Harambee House. They confirmed to me that Tom had indeed been assassinated.
Mboya was a Suba and based on the stories from my Abagusii ancestors, the Suba and the Abagusii regard each other as close relatives. Even when I attended his burial at Rusinga, the Suba treated me as a member of their community.
The PC Nyanza Charles Murgor also attended the burial. There were very few non-Nyanza leaders who attended the burial. The Catholic Church presided over the burial. The late Jaramogi Oginga Odinga also attended the burial. He was then the leader of the opposition party, the Kenya People’s Union (KPU).
During that time, Hon Mboya’s death, there were no signs of major political differences in the country, although the opposition KPU was active. There were also no obvious serious political differences in
the ruling party, Kanu. If there were, only politicians knew about them.
To date, Mboya’s assassination baffles me as it did then.
When Mboya died, there was tension in the whole country. That the Government was headed by Mzee Kenyatta, a Kikuyu, the majority of ministers in the Cabinet were from the Kikuyu community and the first suspect of the murder — Njenga — was a Kikuyu, cast the spotlight on the Kikuyu.
Kenyans did not take it kindly.
When the Church service was held at the Holy Family Basilica, Nairobi, it was a very a discomforting situation as there was stone throwing.
The situation was rough in Nairobi and the Government realised that his burial would be full of trouble. Accordingly, the PCs, particularly in Rift Valley and Nyanza, were instructed to be on high alert and maintain security.
The provincial team and security personnel escorted the body from Nairobi and handed over the escort responsibility to us, the Rift Valley team at Kijabe escarpment. As we approached Nakuru, the situation was really tense.
We had to maintain very strong control. We had a platoon of security personnel all the way from Nairobi and we mounted more in areas where we expected trouble. Nakuru, being a cosmopolitan town, was fluid. The people were angered by the death of Mboya.
| Mourners carry Tom Mboya’s casket. |
We managed to cross the town without a major incident. Unfortunately, when we started climbing the Mau Summit area, the vehicle carrying the body overheated. We sent for a mechanic from Nakuru. However, when we drew water from the radiator and replaced it, the vehicle restarted and we moved on without trouble. We travelled and handed over the body to Murgor, PC Nyanza, and his team at Awasi.
The body had to go through Kisumu where there was a lot of trouble and the GSU had to shoot in the air to quell riots.
Similar chaos greeted the arrival of the body at Homa Bay. The body was kept at the Catholic Church overnight. I had that time returned to Nakuru.
The same night, I received instructions from the Office of the President to travel to Rusinga and attend the funeral as one of the Government representatives. No further instructions or explanations were given to me.
I travelled to Nyanza and we took the body from Homa Bay to Mbita Point.
The lake was rough as we were crossing to Rusinga Island and so the boat ride was very uncomfortable. The body had to stay overnight.The following morning, in accordance with tradition, grave diggers commenced.
As it neared completion, water started bubbling. A lot of time was spent getting cement from Homa Bay to mix with sand in order to seal the water source before the burial took place. The Catholic Church conducted the final burial rites. It was extremely saddening and heart breaking to see Mboya’s widow and family members totally broken as they watched the body being lowered into its final
resting place.
