By Aclan Agesa and Isaac Mutiso, Kakamega
On August 7, 1998, it was a bright and sunny day. It seemed to be peaceful and busy like any other day for Peter Obadiah Malenya, 80, who was serving as a military Officer, Warrant Officer (I) at the Defence headquarters, Nairobi.
Obadiah who hails from Itenyi village in Shinyalu constituency in an exclusive interview with County Splash said that employees of banks in Kenya had gone on strike.
The only people who were serving customers were senior bank managers.
“The banks were being opened at 9:00am and closed at 12:00pm,” Mr Obadiah
Obadiah said that he had sought permission from his boss to go to the Bank of Baroda in town which was near Ufundi Co-operative Bank.
“At around 10:00 am, there was a blast and people assumed that it was a normal tyre burst. Being a military officer and with my experience, I knew something was wrong. I told those who were near me that it was not a tyre burst but something else,” said Obadiah.
At the bank, he found a long queue of people waiting to be served and so he joined the queue.
“At around 10:00 am, there was a blast and people assumed that it was a normal tyre burst. Being a military officer and with my experience, I knew something was wrong. I told those who were near me that it was not a tyre burst but something else,” said Obadiah.
The ex- military officer said he laid down and told those around him to go down as well, saying ‘in split of a second, there was a huge explosion’ and the debris fell on the people….it was a bomb blast at United States Embassy.
The co-operative house had been brought down by a bomb blast, that Al Qaeda claimed responsibility under their leader, Osama bin Laden who was killed in 2012 by former US President Barack Obama’s administration.
“There was a huge stampede as people scampered for safety,” said Obadiah, adding that, he woke up a few minutes later and started walking towards Harambee Avenue.
On reaching Harambee House, he met one of his colleagues who was a senior officer at the defense headquarters who administered first aid to him.
“Blood was all over my face and my clothes had been soaked in blood. He administered first aid, took me to his car and rushed me to the Forces Memorial Hospital,” said Obadiah
Obadia was among the first victims to reach to the hospital and the doctors rushed attended to him promptly.
While at the hospital, he was taken to the theater where his head was stitched and his shoulder which had cracked operated on.
“Many civilians were brought to the Forces Memorial Hospital since all the public hospitals were full and overwhelmed with the huge numbers of bomb blast victims,” he said.
Forces Memorial hospital was strictly a military hospital.
Obadia said that he stayed in the hospital for two days and was discharged on the third day and he went to his house in Hurlingham at the headquarters of Defence.
While at home, he continued attending to weekly clinics for physiotherapy for his shoulders and his hands which never came back to their normal position after the tragedy.
Obadia further explains that after the tragedy, the late President Daniel arap Moi formed a committee that was chaired by the former attorney General Charles Njonjo to find ways of helping affected victims.
‘’To date, I always feel insecure and does not like being around people. I don’t like someone being behind me as that evokes the memories of the deadly bomb blast,” said Obadiah
Njonjo’s committee mobilised funds from donations from Kenyans and well-wishers which was used to help the victims get treatment and cater for burial expenses for those who lost their loved ones.
A total of 213 people died in the bomb blast and over 4,000 Kenyans were left nursing life threatening savage injuries.
Since then, Obadiah’s life took a U-turn. He said at the time of the bomb blast, he was forced to take an early retirement as ‘his body was weak and physically challenged’ and therefore could not continue working as a military officer.
His children who were in school were affected and its by God’s grace that they were able to complete their studies.
‘’To date, I always feel insecure and does not like being around people. I don’t like someone being behind me as that evokes the memories of the deadly bomb blast,” said Obadiah
Up to today, he is now 80 years and he still goes for physiotherapy after every two weeks and it is costly.
His appeal to the government is that they should locate and find all who were affected by the bomb blast and help them in terms of compensation including him (Obadiah).
He feels sad that the Americans and those Kenyans who were working at the American Embassy were compensated but those who were caught up in the crossfire have not been compensated.
He urged Senators that will be going to the USA to ask for reparations, should go and represent Kenyans and come back with something that will help in compensating the surviving victims and their families.
End
