Why family is holding quiet memorial for Robert Ouko
Former Minister of Foreign Affairs the late Dr Robert Ouko. Maurice Seda, Dr Ouko’s brother, said the family has now chosen to celebrate him “in our own ways in our homes" decades after he was found murdered.
For the family of the late Dr Robert Ouko, the numerous anniversaries only remind them of the pain they have endured for more than three decades.
It is a mixture of anger, disappointment and disillusionment of not ever knowing the killers of the former Minister of Foreign Affairs in the late President Daniel Toroitich Arap Moi’s cabinet.
Dr Ouko also served in President Jomo Kenyatta’s cabinet as the minister of Community Affairs.
Slowly it’s downing on the family in that they might never get justice for Dr Ouko. This has reduced much of the fanfare around the anniversary of the late politician.
This year, to commemorate the death of their kin, the family will be holding individual ceremonies in their homes in Nairobi, Koru and Nyahera in Kisumu County, away from the glare of the cameras and the public.
Mr Maurice Seda, Dr Ouko’s brother told Nation.Africa on phone that they have chosen to celebrate him “in our own ways in our homes."
“We decided to remember him quietly in our homes. We still miss him. He was loving, kind to us and the gap he left is still very huge and is being felt to date,” said Mr Seda.
Dr Ouko’s memories are still visible though, especially at his Koru home where he has been immortalized in a Library located few meters from his house.
Dr Robert Ouko Memorial Library is active and has been attracting many visitors who come to witness the remaining historical ventures, achievements and items Dr Ouko was synonymous with.
All these are kept in a small section of the Library labelled the Memorabilia containing the former Minister’s exercise books he used in the 1960s, his clothes, photos, medals, gifts, and the many books he read in his private library.
“This Library, specifically the memorabilia, summarizes the life and times of Dr Robert Ouko. We usually have many people visiting and we experience a high traffic during school holidays because children usually come in high numbers,” said Mr Jim Okaka, Dr Robert Ouko Project Coordinator of the Community Initiative.
This Monday will mark 33 years since Dr Ouko was murdered and his charred remains recovered at Got Alila, a few kilometres from his Koru home.
His killers have never been brought to book.
Mbajah’s death
The death of Mr Eston Barrack Mbajah, a brother to the late influential minister, almost buried all the hopes of ever knowing the killers of Dr Ouko.
The family’s hopes were on Mr Mbajah whom they thought would name his brother’s killers, but as it stands, he took the secrets to the grave.
Mr Mbajah served in various capacities in the then provincial administration before ending up as a deputy provincial commissioner and later as a deputy secretary in the Attorney-General’s office.
The Kominde family and Konduu clan at large were hit hard by the passing of Mr Mbajah who died aged 79 years on August 16, 2020 in Tacoma, USA where he was undergoing treatment for a stroke he had suffered five years earlier.
To them, it was probably the final nail in the coffin of the elusive justice for their brother, Dr Ouko, who was brutally murdered three decades ago.
According to Mr Seda, the former administrator lived a quiet life until the gruesome murder of his brother.
During his funeral Mr Seda said Mbajah’s death dealt a major blow to the quest to find Dr Ouko’s killers, a matter that was close to his heart.
“We have left everything to God. He will give us the justice we want which he has already started since some of the people mentioned in the case have already paid for their crimes,” Mr Seda when his brother died three years ago.
Mr Mbajah had hoped he would succeed in getting justice for his brother with the help of Kenya’s former presidents Daniel arap Moi and Mwai Kibaki, but this never happened.
Mr Seda indicated that Mbajah’s life was good until he was tortured by the same people he served immediately after his brother’s death and “he never enjoyed life to the fullest. He lived a painful life after the torture.”
During the funeral, Mrs Esther Mbajah, Mbajah’s widow described how her husband was disturbed by the death of Dr Ouko.
According to the widow, her husband fell ill immediately after the death of his brother in 1990. She added that what troubled Mr Mbajah to his death was seeing the lifeless body of his brother at Got Alila burning, with acid in his mouth.
“People kept on asking Mbajah why he kept on hunting for his brother’s killers. It is the sight of his brother’s body that drove him to seek the truth,” said Mrs Mbajah.
