NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 10 — The year 2022 marks the 38th anniversary of the Wagalla Massacre, a military campaign on February 10 1984, that targeted the ethnic Degodia clan, which has been cited as Kenya’s worst cases of human rights abuses.
The army descended on the ethnic group in the present day Wajir County in northeastern in what begun as disarmament exercise following clan-related conflict in the region where Kenyan-Somalis are the dominant ethnic group.
Years later, the national government is yet to implement the Truth Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC) report which recommended compensation for the victims.
Kenyan security forces rounded up men from the Degodia clan in what was supposed to be an illegal weapon mop up and held them at the Wagalla Airstrip for days without food and water before executing thousands on the third day after they attempted to escape.
As a result, at least 3000 men are said to have lost their lives when the security officers opened fire at the victims who attempted to run for their lives.
Former President Daniel Moi, who died on February 4 2020, was among the few surviving individuals who were widely blamed for the incident.
Bethuel Kiplagat and G G Kariuki were among high-profile officials alleged to have attended the meeting which gave the go ahead of a security crackdown that led to the incident.
In 2010, Kiplagat stepped aside as Chairman of the Truth Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC) because of his alleged involvement in authorizing the military offensive that led to the massacre.
In April 2012, Kiplagat was reinstated as TJRC Chairman after then Justice Minister Eugene Wamalwa brokered a truce between him and the other commissioners.
The same year, the former Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga ordered an official probe into the atrocities and indicated that the national attorney general should bring to justice those responsible for the killings.
Odinga also ordered a museum to be constructed in honour of the victims.
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