Koigi wa Wamwere, one of those unlawfully detained during the Nyayo regime has not joined Kenyans in celebrating the life of the late President Daniel Moi.
Wamwere, who spoke to Daily Nation on Tuesday, Wednesday 4, asserted that though he held no bitterness towards the deceased statesman, he wished to forget him first.
The former Subukia MP held the opinion that Mzee Moi passed on without fulfilling a key duty he owed to the country: seeking forgiveness for the various abuses committed during his rule.
“He has passed away without fulfilling a very serious responsibility to tell the nation he is sorry for what he did during his tenure,” Koigi spoke his mind.
Wamwere holds no fond memories of President Moi which may be attributed to the fact that he was in detention for nine years.
He was detained for two distinct periods, from August 1975 to December 1978 and again after the attempted coup in 1982.
A report authored in 2016 by Christine Mungai, a Kenyan writer and journalist, which attempted to craft a timeline of Nyayo detentions, mentioned Wamwere’s own experience.
The report which quoted Koigi directly detailed what he underwent while in detention.
“The cell was completely dark, the walls painted black. A powerful fan blew in hot and cold air alternatively. Cold as a deep freezer and hot like an oven,” he recalled.
It went on to highlight that Koigi and his co-accused were fed raw food during their internment.
They were also barred from washing, exercising or speaking to each other over the detention period.
Wamwere, who is now in his late sixties, has since shaved off his dreadlocks which he grew in defiance of the Kanu regime
The veteran, while reiterating that he has no bitter feelings towards the late Mzee, holds the view that Mzee Moi ultimately had no intention of making amends for his government’s rights abuses.
“When I met Moi and asked him whether he could say sorry for his government’s misdeeds, he refused. If he was not willing to say sorry to me, he didn’t believe in making amends,” Koigi stated.
