August 7, 1998, is a day that will forever be etched in the minds of Kenyans as it marks the bombing of the United States embassy that left 213 individuals dead and more than 4,000 others injured.
22 years later, Peter Njioka, who owned a consultancy firm then, has narrated the sad tale of how he lost everything he had worked for in the blink of an eye.
Together with his two partners, Njioka owned a HR consultancy firm and a general supplies business at Ufundi Cooperative Plaza, with clients including the government, parastatals, NGO's and corporates.
During a recent episode of Engage Talk, Njioka narrated that on that fateful day, he had just stepped into the building, waiting to catch a lift, when the incident occurred.
"I was just from a meeting with a lawyer and five minutes to 10:00 am, I was at the entrance of Ufundi Cooperative House. I really cursed the lift because it was taking too long and I wanted to get to the office faster and prepare for my next meeting.
"Within minutes, I heard the loudest blast, not once but twice. I fell down and the next thing I saw was myself in a church, praying," Njioka continued.
It is only after he got out of the church that he was told by passersby that the American embassy had been bombed and Ufundi Cooperative House, flattened.
Njioka would realise that he and his business partners had lost everything they had worked for, including computers and education certificates.
Worse, he realised that his business partners and employees had been in the office at the time of the explosion.
"We avoided discussing the people. Six of our staff, two interns and my partner who was waiting for the visitors, were all inside the office.
"The next day, we went back to the site. We realised we could not see any of our people. We went to all hospitals and people just kept telling us, can you look for them in the morgue, if you cannot find them," he narrated.
It wasn't until the second day that Njioka gathered the courage to go to morgues and found the lifeless bodies of his business partner, his two interns, secretary and other staff members.
"We used to go to Uhuru park where the disaster management teams were holding meetings but one former Provincial Commissioner Joseph Kaguthi, made us appreciate the reality by telling us that we would not be compensated because neither the Americans nor the Kenyan government was to blame, " Njioka narrated.
The next three months were the toughest for most of those who lost their businesses as they could not afford basic needs.
22 years later, Njioka has touched the lives of many youth in his home area, Kiharu, Murang'a.
"Being a HR consultant, I used my profession to influence education standards in my community. Luckily, I was appointed into several boards and I interacted with educators and religious leaders and was able to influence my community to adopt cooperate focus education.
"Out of that, we have created a force of over 50 young men and women who are also influencing education in various ways," he concluded.
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