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Kenya: Granny Who Defied Protocol to Air Her Views
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The Nation (Nairobi)
30 April 2008
Posted to the web 30 April 2008
Watoro Kamau
Nairobi
The elderly woman, who on Saturday had a rare opportunity to present her problems to President Kibaki during a peace rally in Molo, has had a life full of misery.
Ms Mary Nyambura, 70, was among internal refugees who had assembled at the Molo stadium to listen to President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga address their plight.
The elderly woman caught the President's attention as she struggled with security personnel who were trying to restrain her.
An interview with her neighbours and friends revealed that the elderly woman appears to suffer from some form of depression following a trail of misfortunes in her life.
Her ordeal
Neighbours told the Nation that she often woke up at night and start screaming and narrating her ordeal to anybody who bothers to listen.
Her neighbours at the Mau Summit police station, where internal refugees persons are camping, said that she was assaulted by police on the eve of the rally after she woke up at night and started screaming.
"The two officers who beat her were new at the police station and did not understand her. The officers said her screams were causing tension in the camp as other occupants thought the camp was being raided," a neighbour said.
The neighbour, however, said they were used to her screams and none of the camp's residents was bothered about her.
"We normally reprimand her and ask her to keep quiet which she normally does, but the two officers beat her thoroughly as she pleaded for mercy," the neighbour explained.
They narrated to the Nation a trail of misfortunes that had befallen her and which they attributed to her apparent worsening state of mental health.
They said she was a mother of four, but all her three sons died, leaving her with a daughter.
Three years ago, Ms Nyambura lost her two grandsons, aged five and 11 years, after they were hit by a speeding car as they were crossing the busy Eldoret-Nakuru highway at Total trading centre.
Ms Nyambura suffered yet another blow when her house and her household goods were torched by arsonist when post-election violence flared up in Total area early this year.
Her daughter, who was married in Keringet area in Kuresoi constituency, was displaced in the violence.
It is against such background that Ms Nyambura wanted to meet the President.
Ms Nyambura requested that the Government provide her with shelter.
She also told the President that she felt that there was a bad omen hovering around her and which was responsible for her children's death.
The hawk-eyed Presidential guards, who had lined up in front of the crowd, spotted Ms Nyambura immediately she stood up listening to the Presidential speech.
The security officers swung into action when Ms Nyambura told them that she wanted to meet the President.
It was at this juncture that the President spotted the security team struggle with the woman, and ordered them to stop harassing her.
"Wewe wacha yeye. Hawa wanataka kushika mtu kwa mkutano. Wachana na yeye. Wacha kusumbua yeye," the President ordered. The incident took place at about 30 metres from the Presidential dais.
After the President ordered the security officers to leave the woman alone Molo MP Joseph Kiuna left the main dais and conferred with the woman who agreed to sit down before he returned to the dais.
Immediately the President concluded his address, he summoned her.
Act promptly
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He listened attentively for some few minutes as she explained her plight before referring her to Rift Valley provincial commissioner Noor Hassan Noor who was also present.
The woman requested the President to issue her with a letter directing the PC to address her plight but the president explained that there was no point of issuing her with such a letter as the administrator would act promptly.
Mr Noor asked the woman to report to his office the following morning to have her problem sorted out. She was escorted from the dais by a team of security officers as the police band prepared to play the national anthem.
It is a shame for young Policemen to beat up a 70 year old woman. What kind of training are they being given? Someone who has reached the age of 70 and is still trying to fight for her rights to air her views freely should be treated with respect and handled with lots of care.
God bless her, I hope the beating did not affect her health.
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