Widows and orphans of Mpeketoni struggle to make ends meet as pain of loss lingers

A year has elapsed since the killing of more than 90 men by terrorists in Mpeketoni, Kibaoni, Hindi and Witu, all in Lamu County.

Many of the widows, victims and survivors have put the ugly occurrence behind them and tried to forge on with life.

Widows who talked to the Nation at Hindi and Mpeketoni, however, complained that the government had neglected them, with numerous promises of assistance yet to be fulfilled.

Mrs Jane Njeri Kang’ethe, 45,  a widow and resident of Roka-Kibiboni in Hindi, lost her husband, Stephen Kang’ethe, when the terrorists massacred 13 people on the night of July 5 last year.

The mother of six says the going has not been easy without her husband, who was the sole bread winner for the family.
Mrs Kang’ethe says she now has to double up her efforts as she plays the roles of mother and father to her children.

“My husband’s death has dealt us a big blow as a family. We had planned to send one of our children to college but since his demise, everything came to a standstill. The only activity I am currently doing to sustain this family is small scale farming. We need help,” she said.

At Saba Saba area in Hindi, another widow, Jacinta Adhiambo, a mother of triplets accused the government for turning its back on them despite fully understanding what had befallen them.

Due to the fears that the attack left, Ms Adhiambo says she had to flee with her children from her home in Malamandi village and now squats on a Good Samaritan’s land at Saba Saba in Hindi, where she does some subsistence farming, which she says rarely produces enough to feed her children.

HAVE NO HOPE

On most occasions she begs for food and donations from well-wishers and churches.

“I never imagined that I would beg for food when my husband was alive. We were so comfortable, my children and I were so happy but look at us now. Squatters. I am a religious person but I have no hope for tomorrow,” she said.

Following the terror attacks, the county government of Lamu decided to give Sh 100,000 to all the widows and bereaved families in Mpeketoni alone.
Widows from other affected parts of the county including Hindi and Witu were left unassisted, something that many are bitter about to date.

Mrs Salome Wanjiku Gichobi, whose husband, Mr Stephen Gichobi was gunned down on the night of July 5 at Roka-Kibiboni village in Hindi Division, says it was unfair for the county government to discriminate against some of the widows in the payment of the condolence money.

The mother of three said it would have been better for all widows not to be given a penny if the county government lacked enough funds to give to all the widows, since they shared the common pain of losing their husbands.

“When you console one widow with Sh100,000 and leave the other one hanging dry, you create the impression that some of the women who lost their husbands are more widows than others.

“That’s discriminatory. In this case the county government felt that only Mpeketoni widows were entitled to their help while many of us were left with nowhere to hold onto,” said Mrs Gichobi.

The widows have decided to put aside any differences and ill-feelings they have.

They are now calling on the national government to establish a foundation that will enable them pick up the pieces of their lives and move on comfortably, sustain themselves and send their children to school.

“We want that foundation for many reasons: To remember our husbands who already seem forgotten. The foundation will also help ease our suffering,” added Mrs Gichobi.

FOSTER UNITY

As Lamu residents recall last year’s killings, tourism and culture stakeholders in the Coast region have organised an inter-faith music festival to help foster unity.

Coming in the wake of dwindling earnings following a drop in the number of foreign tourists, the group comprising county governments, hotel owners, National Museums of Kenya and NGOs will hold a fete dubbed Interfaith Music and Film Festival to help market the area.

The General Manager of Karibuni Villas in Malindi, Glory Ndege, who hosted the inaugural meeting said peaceful co-existence and promotion of culture would help in the campaign to revive the ailing tourism industry.

“We have over the years concentrated on the traditional attractions of sandy beaches and the sun, forgetting that our rich cultural heritage that cuts across tribes and religions could also be harnessed to promote domestic tourism,” she said.

Last month, Karibuni Villas sponsored a cultural tour for the winner of Miss Hando competition to Zanzibar and Tanzania mainland to lure visitors into the Kenyan Coast.

Besides tourism, the group says the event slated for August would also address the thorny issue of drugs and substance abuse, security and integration and cohesion of different communities and faiths.

“Drug abuse has become a major concern in the coastal region. This calls for religious and cultural groups to come out and deliver the anti-drug abuse message in one strong voice.

The message for the youths is more felt when given in a language they fully understand which is film,” said the Co-ordinator of Mseto Africa Anthony Kadenge.

Kilifi Chief Officer, ICT, Culture and Social Services Mohammed Chuba said the county government was promoting cultural tourism.

Early this year, the county government, Mseto Africa and the NMK held a multicultural festival which attracted thousands of people to Malindi.

“The cultural identity and the folk music is slowly fading as the coming generations go for pop music, choirs and other modern music and film genres. The folk music and culture should thus be infused into the choral music and film for posterity,” Mr Chuba said. 

The festival will also include guest performers in music and film with renowned artistes and film personalities from the region, Kenya and East Africa expected to feature.

INTERFAITH EVENT

This is the first time the region will hold an interfaith event to help bring peace. It comes at a time when residents of Lamu, especially Mpeketoni and Witu towns will be remembering the ugly events of last year.

The actual festival will involve three days of showcasing talents in music, verse presentation; Bible verses recitations, Quran recitations as well as films.

Meanwhile, More than 300 children have been born in Mpeketoni Town since March, a state attributed to the 10-month curfew imposed after the attacks.

Records at Mpeketoni Sub-County Hospital reveal a surging number of births, with May recording the highest deliveries hitting 118.

“The number of deliveries in the hospital has been on a steady rise from March, with June likely break the record. In the first six days of June, we have had 19 deliveries. Last night (June 6) alone, there were four deliveries,” an official at the hospital told the Nation.

Between March 1 and June 6, at least 332 children were born, days which are nine months or more after the curfew was enforced.
December to February had a combined figure of 222 births.

The official said the children born from March were “fruits of the curfew”, adding that the graph was likely to continue going up for a while.
The two maternity rooms, which have a 12-bed capacity, were full with more women still arriving.

However, the hospital has few midwives, with some women delivering on their own or with little help.

“One midwife attends to all cases that arise even at night. Fortunately we have not had complicated cases calling for caesarean section,” the source said, adding that First Lady Margaret Kenyatta should address their plight.

Ms Grace Wacuka, a grandmother of a four-day old boy said the curfew was a blessing.

She said her daughter in-law, Martha Wambui, ‘replaced’ one of their in-laws killed in the assaults.

“The terrorists killed men. Those who remained came home early. The who were killed have been born again,” she said.