Peace-maker Opande donates 42-year collection to Archives

A photo taken with former United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan and another showing a young military officer wearing a cadet’s uniform stand out from the collection of souvenirs laid out in front of us.

The first, I learn, was taken in New York eight years ago. The man standing with Mr Annan is Gen Daniel Opande. He was on his way to Sierra Leone for one of the many peace-keeping missions that coloured his military career spanning 42 years.

The second was taken in 1963. The now grey-haired man strides into a hut in his compound to meet his guests, obviously surprised at a greater number than he expected.

“I thought it was a small function? “You mean you have made it this big?”

These were the words of retired military general Daniel Opande when a Saturday Nation team visited his Eldoret home early this week.

Gen Opande had organised a meeting with Kenya National Archives officer Naftal Chweya Oganga to hand over to him some souvenirs he had gathered during his long military service.

As I count the medals hanging around the hut, a jovial Gen Opande smiles and tells me: “Well, big or small, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.”

Career soldier

Mr Oganga introduces us to the career soldier, saying that we are from the Nation Media Group and that our mission is to document the handing-over ceremony.

The retired army general, who has traversed the world negotiating peace, then takes us through what he has for the archives and explains why.

“Today, I’m handing over a few items, which I believe as we fade away, form a major focus of life we tend to ignore to leave behind for future generations to learn or see,” he says philosophically.

“As we fade away from the scene, we should not fade away with things that we earned while working for this country and the world we live in.”

He explains that, traditionally, oration was the only medium of transferring information from one generation to another, although with shortcomings.

“If you preserve items at the national archives, they will be accessed by many generations.” The items he selects are mainly those he obtained during his peace-keeping missions abroad.

He explains that some of them will help not only people in the military to work for peace in the world, but also the youth to understand that peace is elusive and could disappear for long.

“I want our people to use these items I’m donating today for learning about three major aspects of life — negotiating peace, living peacefully and conflict,” he says.

Gen Opande explains that he acquired most of the souvenirs in Namibia (1989-1990), Mozambique and Liberia between 1992 and 1995 and later between 2003 and 2005 as well as Sierra Leone between 2000 and 2003.

“I consider my experiences in peace-keeping in these countries to be close to my heart, not just for the sake of it, but to use the lessons I learnt there and relate them to our country,” he says.

The retired general then hands over to Mr Oganga his first sword of command. He used the weapon at the first parade when he moved to Eldoret in 1990 to establish the ninth battalion.

The other mementoes include his photograph as a young officer, a mess kit he used as senior officer in 1964, a photo taken in New York with UN secretary-general Kofi Annan in 2000 when he (Opande) was travelling to Sierra Leone.

Gen Opande gives away also his photo with the Tanzanian army commander when the two countries forged closer ties in December 1984.

He then hands over the UN flag that he flew on his desk while in Sierra Leone between 1989 and 1990 and while in Namibia as the deputy commander of the peace-keeping force.

Another souvenir is a piece of cloth inscribed “Lt-Gen Daniel Opande, Liberians love you”, given to him by Liberian children. He hands over also a cane used by senior officers — mainly colonels and generals.

“I used this stick even when I was talking to warring groups in Liberia,” he recalls. “It was the one I used to strike rebels when they could not agree with the negotiation process.”

Perhaps the main item, he then gives away the first uniform he wore as a cadet in London in 1963. He then promises to donate more souvenirs when he is sure the Kenya National Archives has the capacity to preserve them.

In an interview with the Saturday Nation, Gen Opande revealed that behind the scenes during the peace negotiations after the post-election violence was a team of four men and a woman who put pressure on politicians to agree to certain terms.

The people who had negotiated peace deals in several of Africa’s war-torn countries, kept the fire of hope burning even when things seemed headed for the rocks.

Their names had not featured as prominently as that of the chief negotiator, former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan, but retired Gen Daniel Opande, career diplomat Bethwell Kiplagat, retired Maj-Gen Lazarus Sumbeiywo, Mr George Wachira of a Nairobi-based peace networking organisation, and Ms Deka Ibrahim, a woman from Mombasa, were working round the clock to ensure the peace deal was achieved.

The four were part of the Concerned Citizens for Peace group, although Mr Kiplagat and Maj-Gen Sumbeiywo were relatively vocal during the negotiations.

Recalls the retired general, who has vast experience in crisis resolution: “The country at that time was on the verge of breaking into factions.

The issue had moved out of two political parties – PNU and ODM. Kenya was drifting into a failed state and we were almost there.

When you see militias trying to run a country, those are signs enough that things are not the same any more.”

The man who had negotiated peace in Mozambique, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Namibia, said he is not satisfied with what Kenya is doing to ensure long-term peace after the accord leading to the grand coalition government.

He recalls how his team worked day and night pleading with the protagonists to soften their stance on the presidential election.

The team had discussions with Mr Raila Odinga and other ODM leaders on the one hand and the government team, among them Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka, former Finance minister Amos Kimunya and Constitutional Affairs minister Martha Karua.

Politicians may take credit for shaking hands for the round-table agreement, but there were other people in the background who mattered in the whole process of peace negotiation,” he says.

“Our message to the two opposing teams was clear: we had the responsibility to cultivate peace”.

He and his group met virtually all heads of state and diplomats who trooped into the country to negotiate peace.

Gen Opande asks Kenyans to value peace. “Kenyans tend to take for granted that peace will always be there,” he says.

“Even now I still see that a lot of us take it for granted that we managed to come out of the crisis and things are back to normal.