By Ally Jamah

Ambassador Bethwel Kiplagat took the hot seat in the ongoing Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC) hearings over the Wagalla Massacre in Wajir in 1984 with a witness claiming that he ordered for the killings to be carried out.

Kiplagat, who stepped aside from the TJRC chairmanship over his alleged involvement in the incident, braved a day-long barrage of questions including a claim by a survivor that he called for the elimination of "troublemakers."

During the hearing at KICC, Nairobi, the commission’s Chief Executive and Leader of Evidence Patricia Nyaundi quoted a statement from Mr Mohammed Ali Ahmed, who was being held at Wajir Prison when a delegation that included Kiplagat visited in February 1984.

According to the statement, Mohammed claimed that he heard Kiplagat telling prison officials in Kiswahili to eliminate the Degodia men, who were suspected of attacking their Ajuran neighbours a few days earlier.

Kiplagat is quoted as saying: "Mbona mnaangalia hawa watu....si muwamalize (why are you tolerating these people, just finish them)?"

But Kiplagat denied the accusations and said he could not recall visiting the prison or making the statement.

"I don’t remember calling for the killing of people. I would never do such a thing," said a stunned Kiplagat.

His lawyer Elijah Mwangi protested that TJRC was unfair to his client since he was not informed of the existence of the statement in good time prior to the hearings.

Kiplagat also insisted that he was not part of the Special Wajir District Security Committee meeting of February 9, 1984, that reportedly made the decision to round up hundreds of Degodia clansmen.

Declassify documents

Reports in the recent past have linked him to the incident at Wagalla Airstrip and claimed he was part of a security meeting in Wajir a few days before the alleged killings.

"This meeting took place after my team’s departure in the early afternoon of February 8, 1984. This information was not privy to me prior to allegations connecting me to the matter at hand," he said in an eight-page statement.

In a long exchange of questions with Mrs Nyaundi, Kiplagat maintained that his visit to Wajir had nothing to do with the massacre.

"The tour was to give members of KIC an opportunity to visit the province to acquaint themselves with the opportunity to see projects and problems faced by civil servants and general public and recommend improvements," he said

He said the delegation arrived in Wajir mid-morning on February 8, 1984 and departed early afternoon of the same day.

Lawyer Harun Ndubi who represents the victims urged TJRC to push the Attorney General to declassify documents to allow more information to come into the public domain.

"The victims of the massacre feel that the commission is being used by Government officials to absolve themselves from blame. We are not seeing major disclosures," he said.

Nyaundi admitted that the commission was frustrated by the slow response of Government to their requests to avail official documents needed for the hearings.