In June 2015, two months after al-Shabaab terrorists killed 148 people – mostly students – in an attack on Garissa University College, former Ghanaian president Jerry Rawlings sat down for an interview with the Sunday Nation .
A former African Union (AU) envoy to Somalia, Rawlings understood the inner workings of the African Union Mission to Somalia (Amisom), which the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) is a member.
According to Rawlings, Kenya knew of the dangers it was exposing itself to when it decided to involve its military in the Somali conflict.
“Right from the outset, Kenya should have recognised that this battle would be difficult,” he said.
“It is not complex for a country like Ethiopia because they don’t have to deal with such a diverse array of people and religious groups. However, Kenya is not the only African country in this situation. Most of us are at various levels of vulnerability.”
With his booming voice, Rawlings added that it was his affection for Kenya that made him speak openly about the country.
That affection was manifested in many ways: his son, Kimathi Rawlings is named after Kenya’s freedom fighter Dedan Kimathi.
Meanwhile, as president and after he left office, Rawlings made numerous visits to Nairobi.
A friend to the then Interior Minister George Saitoti, Rawlings attended the former vice president’s burial after his death in 2012 a helicopter crash in Kibiku forest.
During the funeral, Rawlings urged Kenyan leaders to form a government that united all.
“We should move from this winner-takes-all system and encourage leaders to work together. Perhaps that is what Africa needs. The recent events in your country have shown your potential,” he told mourners.
His plea for an inclusive government to avoid the chaos that erupted after the 2007 presidential election appears to be finding a place to land through the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) proposals for constitutional, legislative, policy and administrative reforms.
As the AU envoy for Somalia, the former Ghanaian president visited Nairobi numerous times to meet Somalia leaders, UN officials and retired President Mwai Kibaki.
By the time of the interview with the Sunday Nation in June 2015, Rawlings had resigned as AU envoy to Somalia.
Rawlings said he took the decision because leaders in eastern Africa appeared not to support his work.
Whenever Rawlings was in Nairobi, the Tribe Hotel that is next to The Village Market was his base.
There, Rawlings’ outgoing mien was on display as he easily mixed with ordinary people and took photos with hotel employees and guards.
Though Rawlings became president in a military coup, he returned Ghana to democracy and peacefully handed power to an opposition candidate who won the election against his then vice president John Atta Mills in 2001.
For his work of promoting volunteerism, he was named the first International Year of Volunteers 2001 Eminent Person.
