TESTIMONY
Feb 09, 2008
One of the Ugandan drivers plying the Kampala-Nairobi route (name withheld) said he was sodomised by Kenyan rioters.
One of the Ugandan drivers plying the Kampala-Nairobi route (name withheld) said he was sodomised by Kenyan rioters. Below is his ordeal: -
On January 18, being on leave from my job in northern Uganda, I went to collect a new car from Mombasa. I have done this since 1999 to supplement my salary. I happily left Kampala for Mombasa on a deal that would fetch me sh300,000, oblivious of the impending danger that would almost end my life.
By Tuesday, January 22, I had secured the car, a Toyota Avanza, from the clearing agents. I set off from Mombasa at 7:00pm and slept at Mutito. The next day, I proceeded to Eldoret. There was a road block at Kireta, 15km to Eldoret. I tried to maneuver around it but a group of about 10 men cornered me and I had to stop. They hijacked me and my colleague and drove us off the road to a certain homestead about 30km away.
They threatened to kill us because our president had sent troops to Kenya to kill them. They spoke Swahili and Kalenjin. Tears rolled down my cheeks. I thought of my three children I had left in Uganda. I could not imagine how they would grow up since their mother is not working. The men beat us and did not care that we were bleeding. They then separated us. I don’t know where they took my colleague. I remained with about seven men and one of them asked me to remove my clothes. They seemed to enjoy seeing me undressing. They laughed as I stripped.
One man asked me to bend over, warning me not to make any noise or risk death. He told me: ‘I want to have fun with you from your anus. I know it might be painful but you have no option.’
The very man then took me to a room and sodomised me throughout the night as his colleagues kept vigil. I had been hearing stories of people being sodomised but I never imagined it could happen to me. The next day, the man ordered his colleagues to tie me with ropes. They dumped me at the road side and took off in the car I had collected from Mombasa. I was saved by a school watchman, who took me to Kapsabet Police Station to record a statement. My health is not fine. I have developed abdominal complications but I fear to go to hospital. I am afraid that doctors might narrate my ordeal to other people. I don’t want my wife to know. It might ruin my marriage.
After recording a statement at Kapsabet Police Station, the officer in charge called my boss in Uganda. Thank God the car was traced after five days. I swear I will never go back to Kenya.
As told to Madinah Tebajjukira
On January 18, being on leave from my job in northern Uganda, I went to collect a new car from Mombasa. I have done this since 1999 to supplement my salary. I happily left Kampala for Mombasa on a deal that would fetch me sh300,000, oblivious of the impending danger that would almost end my life.
By Tuesday, January 22, I had secured the car, a Toyota Avanza, from the clearing agents. I set off from Mombasa at 7:00pm and slept at Mutito. The next day, I proceeded to Eldoret. There was a road block at Kireta, 15km to Eldoret. I tried to maneuver around it but a group of about 10 men cornered me and I had to stop. They hijacked me and my colleague and drove us off the road to a certain homestead about 30km away.
They threatened to kill us because our president had sent troops to Kenya to kill them. They spoke Swahili and Kalenjin. Tears rolled down my cheeks. I thought of my three children I had left in Uganda. I could not imagine how they would grow up since their mother is not working. The men beat us and did not care that we were bleeding. They then separated us. I don’t know where they took my colleague. I remained with about seven men and one of them asked me to remove my clothes. They seemed to enjoy seeing me undressing. They laughed as I stripped.
One man asked me to bend over, warning me not to make any noise or risk death. He told me: ‘I want to have fun with you from your anus. I know it might be painful but you have no option.’
The very man then took me to a room and sodomised me throughout the night as his colleagues kept vigil. I had been hearing stories of people being sodomised but I never imagined it could happen to me. The next day, the man ordered his colleagues to tie me with ropes. They dumped me at the road side and took off in the car I had collected from Mombasa. I was saved by a school watchman, who took me to Kapsabet Police Station to record a statement. My health is not fine. I have developed abdominal complications but I fear to go to hospital. I am afraid that doctors might narrate my ordeal to other people. I don’t want my wife to know. It might ruin my marriage.
After recording a statement at Kapsabet Police Station, the officer in charge called my boss in Uganda. Thank God the car was traced after five days. I swear I will never go back to Kenya.
As told to Madinah Tebajjukira