Bandit’s bullets took away my eyes but I am undeterred, says teacher

Until December 1978, Thomas Kibet was a normal healthy boy. Just like his peers, Kibet would use his energies running around, at times helping his parents with domestic chores, including taking care of livestock. He was 12 then.

However, this was only before cattle rustlers struck his homes in Kagir, Baringo North Sub-County, and unleashed fire on him one night. The attack sent his whole world into darkness. Kibet lost both eyes.

Apart from shooting him in the eyes, the bandits also impoverished his family by driving away their seven cows in the midnight attack.

This marked the beginning of Kibet’s life with the white cane. And before he could get used to it, he had to be assisted, almost in everything.

“I had just gone to bed when I heard gunshots outside. I don’t remember much of what happened, but I saw a beam of light before everything went dark. The pain was also unbearable,” he said when the Nation caught up with him 37 years after the attack. 

His parents took him to several hospitals, but he could not regain his sight. The big scars he bears are a stark reminder of the fateful night.

Last week, Mr Kibet moved those accompanying Interior CS Joseph Nkaissety to a tour of the area to tears when he recounted his ordeal.

“I wonder how a Kenyan can do this to a fellow Kenyan. This is very inhuman,” said Mr Nkaissery.

Mr Kibet is just one of the many people in Baringo County who have had to bear the brunt of cattle rustling. Just like with Kibet, the armed bandits who roam the valleys freely have shattered the dreams of many and changed their lives for the worst.

DREAM FOR A BETTER LIFE

However, the attack did not dampen Mr Kibet’s spirits. He says he continued to press on to realise his dream for a better life.

“My parents took me to Thika School For The Blind. I completed my education in 1994 and joined Asumbi Teachers College in 1997 and graduated in 2001,” says Mr Kibet.

He is currently a teacher at Marigat Integrated Boarding Primary School in Baringo. And that is not all; Mr Kibet is also a second-year student at Eldoret’s Moi University, where he is pursuing a degree in education.

“What I have gone through is tough but it didn’t stop me from achieving my dreams,” he says.

“Initially, many people lost hope in me. They thought I was finished. However, they have seen that there is still life after the attack and they have learnt to accommodate me just the way I am,” says the father of five.

“I thank God that when you lose one thing, He blesses you with another. I can hear very well and I am also able to make and receive calls without any difficulties,” said Mr Kibet.

However, he faces challenges when bandits strike. “Sometimes I am left behind as others flee,” he laments.

A massive mop-up of firearms in the wrong hands is in the offing following the expiry of a one-week ultimatum Mr Nkaissery gave locals to surrender the guns. The CS issued the ultimatum when he made an extensive tour of the Baringo-Turkana-West Pokot border on Friday.

“The government will not condone lawlessness. You either register the guns, surrender them or face the law,” he said.

Meanwhile, leaders from the cattle rustling-prone counties in North Rift want the government to compensate those displaced by insecurity.

Baringo North MP William Cheptumo said: “The government should treat them the same way it treated those displaced by election violence.”
“Our people have been reduced to paupers after all their livestock was stolen,” Mr Cheptumo added.