Retired military officer ready to do battle with militia

At the age of 62, Layfields Mureithi, a retired chief warrant officer at the Department of Defence headquarters feels that he is strong enough if given an opportunity to cross the border to Somalia to pursue al-Shabaab militants.

Mr Mureithi, who retired from the military six years ago after serving for 35 years, says he misses the gun and would gladly appreciate any offer to join the Kenya Defence Force in Somalia to eradicate the militants.

And he is optimistic that he can fight and return to his family alive and well after victory.

Being a veteran in the 1967 infamous Shifta War, Mr Mureithi, who hails from Githakwa Village in Tetu, Nyeri County, says al-Shabaab war is not as serious as the one they experienced in 1967 against Somalia, which claimed part of Kenya.

Better equipped

He, however, notes that the defence forces currently on the war against the group are much better equipped compared to them.

“The war on al-Shabaab cannot be compared with the Ogaden war. Ours was more serious owing to the fact that we did not have strong weapons unlike Somalia, which was being supplied with weapons by Russia,” he says.

The retired officer also notes that their attackers were bombing them from the air but they had to keep strong and protect their country.

The father of five says that to be in a war in such a place, one has to be strong and expect anything that will come your way be it death or disability.

He recalls where he got his name, ‘Black Scorpion’ after spending his first night in the war inside a dike only to find out in the morning that 12 scorpions were also in.

Known by many veteran soldiers who belonged to his battalion as ‘Black Scorpion’, Mr Mureithi, who was not married at the time, says some of the soldiers never lived to witness victory while others sustained serious injuries.

“When you go to the battlefield, you are never sure whether you will get back to your family alive or dead.

“But you have to sacrifice for your country if you are a real patriot,” Mr Mureithi adds.

The war veteran, however, says that although he luckily left the battle field alive, scars inflicted on both of his limbs by bomb shrapnel will always remain a constant reminder of his first war. 

He narrates how they were hiding in dykes as they traced the enemy when they heard a loud bang.

Soaked in blood

He only realised he had been hurt when he saw his combat trouser was soaked with blood.

He later lost consciousness having lost lots of blood.

Out of the 800 soldiers who had gone into the war, he recalls, eight of them succumbed to the injuries.

“It was sad losing some of our colleagues who had braved themselves (sic) to protect our country but we owe to them the victory we got,” he says.

Mr Mureithi, now a farmer, is asking President Kibaki to honour him owing to the fact that apart from fighting for his country in Somalia, he also risked losing his job in August 1998 as he abandoned his group at the Department of Defence to go rescue the victims of the bomb blast.

On the fateful day, Mr Mureithi left the DoD in a taxi to the city centre only to return and face a three-month pay freeze, which was, however, reversed.