Kiplagat: Keep me out of Wagalla carnage

BY SIMON NDONG�A
Updated : 35 minutes ago
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NAIROBI, Kenya, June 6 - Former Truth Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC) Chairman Bethuel Kiplagat says that he was not involved in any of the meetings that planned and executed the security operation that led to the Wagalla Massacre.

Speaking on Monday morning while giving testimony on the events that led to the carnage, Mr Kiplagat said the meetings he attended on that fateful day only touched on development programmes in the region.

"My visit to Wajir on February 8, 1984 was as a member of a delegation with an objective to give the members of the Kenya Intelligence Committee an opportunity to tour the province," Mr Kiplagat who was the Foreign Affairs Permanent Secretary at the time said.

"It was also to see projects and problems faced by the civil servants and the public as a whole and make recommendations to improve the situation," he stated.

He said that the delegation arrived in Wajir in mid-morning and departed early afternoon of the same day.

"The full list of the delegation is also included in the report of the tour. Altogether, there were 29 delegates divided into three categories; Five members of the Kenya Intelligence Committee, 16 based in the province (Provincial Administration, Police and Military Personnel) and the remaining were specialists in different sectors," he said.

Mr Kiplagat pointed out that the security meeting took place after he and his team left the area.

"The documents I have referred to clearly show that the decision, planning and execution of this operation were not part of any meeting I or the team from Nairobi attended," he said.

"I believe that these records show clearly that any allegations linking me to the planning or execution of this incident are clearly false and unsubstantiated by anyone."

He explained that each District Commissioner briefed the delegation on the objective of the tour which had to do with the general welfare of the people around the area.

He stated further that the meetings with the DCs had no mandate to make decisions particularly in regards to security operations.

"There were members who did not belong to any security committees either locally or nationally who were present. These included experts in Finance, land, water, aerodromes and telecommunications," he said.

He said that similar meetings also took place in Garrisa and Mandera.

Mr Kiplagat said that following the departure of his team from Wajir a subsequent special meeting was held by the then Acting District Commissioner Manasseh Tiema.

He stated that it was in response to an attack by one of the local Somali clans early in the morning that left six people dead. But the elderly diplomat said that he was not present in the meeting which also included the area police chief, and three other members.

He stated that it took place after his team left the area in the early afternoon of February 8, 1984.

"This information was not privy to me prior to allegations connecting me to the matter at hand, and the following information is not my account but merely a factual account on the documents I have been provided with recently," Mr Kiplagat stated.

Mr Kiplagat was giving his testimony alongside David Mwiraria and former PC Joseph Kaguthi.

On February 15, 1984, the Wajir airstrip was the scene of what could easily be the bloodiest massacre in post-independence Kenya.

In what the Government at the time termed as a normal security operation, hundreds of people were confirmed dead while more than 1,000 are still missing.

A week after the massacre, the then MP for the area, Ahmed Khalif Mohammed, tabled a list in Parliament giving the names of the 300 people reportedly killed.

Years down the line, survivors, some of whom were traumatised for life, are still nursing their wounds.

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