Sylvanus Oduor Served 6-Year Sentence After Nyayo Torture Chambers for Friendship With "Condom Ndiyo Best" Singer Ochieng' Kabasellah

Kenya's history is littered with harrowing tales of the famous Nyayo House Chambers where suspected political saboteurs were tortured by the government of the day.

One such story was narrated by Christopher Sylvanus Oduor, a survivor of the torture dens, who up until his capture was working with deaf children.

Mr Oduor was arrested in 1986, tortured for 78 days at Nyayo House and later jailed for six years because he was a friend to the Late musician Ochieng' Kabasellah.

"Two men claimed to have been sent by a friend of mine to pick a hearing aid but when I referred them to my boss they opted to leave. 

"They asked me to see them off so that they could disclose 'the friend' but when we got outside, a third man who introduced himself as a police inspector came out of nowhere and said I was under arrest," Mr Oduor recounted.

According to Oduor, his only crime was being a close friend to "Condom Ndiyo Best" singer Kabasellah, who was also tortured at the Nyayo dens for being a suspected member of the then-outlawed group, Mwakenya Movement.

The group was accused of spreading non-governmental ideals during the era of single party politics and grew in prominence as random crackdowns were conducted by the government.

The Standard reported: "What stood out during the crackdowns was the unyielding manner in which the crackdown targeted everyone in the society. Nobody was spared, not even teachers and secretaries, making it a hot news item for newspapers."

Mr Oduor further related the sad tale of how his oppressors would have him strip naked, do a round of push-ups then lay on his back in a crucifix posture with two officers standing on both his hand before nine others hit him indiscriminately.

He spoke during celebrations of the 2017 World Anti-Torture Day on Wednesday, June 28.

 

 

 

 

 

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