Bishop who took on a brutal regime over Rift Valley killings

• Fearless Catholic Archbishop Ndingi Mwana a’Nzeki tells his story with the first instalment of his new biography, ‘A Voice Unstilled: Archbishop Ndingi Mwana a’Nzeki’.

For people residing in some parts of the Rift Valley, the period 1991-1992 was a time of living dangerously. At that time ethnic clashes had broken out around Kipkelion, Olenguruoni, Molo and some parts of Bomet.

The government preferred calling them land clashes, attempting to convince the masses that what was happening there was just simple clashes but there was more than met the eye. Houses were being torched and people were being killed senselessly.

Neighbour was rising against neighbour and communities where people had lived peacefully for years became veritable tinder boxes.

In spite of this, the government still wanted people to believe that the clashes were about land. In fact, the term tribal clashes disappeared from the media and the softer “land-clashes” became the defining term for the atrocity happening in the Rift Valley.

It was largely seen as a Kikuyu-Kalenjin affair where two tribes had turned against each other with dreadful consequences.

Two things made this conundrum puzzling.

First, it was coming at a time when the clamour for multipartyism was at its peak. Kanu’s hegemony, as a political party that had ruled the country since independence, was being fiercely challenged by a rabid opposition.

The supporters of Forum for Restoration of Democracy (Ford) were mainly Luos, Luhyas and Kikuyus and some of them lived in Rift Valley. To ensure that they did not vote, they had to be uprooted from the province.

Police protection

Second, there was what was seen as government lethargy in dealing with the problem. When the clashes first broke out, the government did nothing to stop them. In some cases it was claimed that the raiders were receiving police protection and even as the fighting continued no one was getting arrested for the atrocity. Some believed that ethnic-cleansing was at work.

As the atrocity continued, the allegations that some of those actively involved were members of Kanu, were rife. In just five days, 20,000 people had been displaced and were now gathered in open areas requesting intervention from the government.

On the Sunday morning of November 3, 1991, a group of armed raiders invaded farms belonging to non-Kalenjins in Kokwet, Chepkechei and Mtaragon areas, set houses ablaze, shot people with arrows and raped women.

Consequently, the displaced families ran away and sought refuge at a nearby school, leaving their farms at the mercy of raiders and looters.

Sitting in the bishopric house in Nakuru, Ndingi received the news with shock. A number of priests, stunned at what they had seen, took the bishop through the entire episode, giving him a blow by blow account of what had happened.

Desperation, anger and helplessness permeated the atmosphere. Ndingi reclined in his seat and listened much more carefully.