Villagers give soldier killed by Al Shaabab a hero’s send-off

By EDWIN MAKICHE

For many weeks, villagers of sleepy Chepseon village in Kericho County had talked in hushed tones about the ongoing Operation Linda Nchi by Kenyan troops in Somalia to subdue the Al Shabaab.

For the villagers, Somalia seemed so far away and the ongoing war was something like a movie made in a distant country about wars.

But on January 10, they were rudely awakened to the reality of the war when word reached them that their industrious son, Lieutenant Evans Kipkorir Ngetich was among those injured in an ambush laid by the Al Shabaab in Somalia.

For a little while, they consoled themselves and each other that their son had only suffered minor injuries and could recover in a matter of days. Then it happened; their son had fallen.

The news shocked them. Tearfully, they prepared for his burial that took place last weekend.

As each spoke about Kipkorir’s virtues, hard work and how he touched their lives in various ways at the burial held at his original home in Kyogong village in Bomet County, there was one last moment to honour his greatness — the military’s gun salute.

The mourners had never heard anything like it. When the first gun fired, they all ran into the bush for dear life.

Their son was so great that his send-off befitted him. Kipkorir’s father, Philip Langat, 53, still cannot believe that his 26-year-old son is no more.

He says Kipkorir, who is the second born in the family of six children, was the most jovial child and never at one time had he thought that he would die under such circumstances or so soon.

Reality to sink

Though it was inevitable that casualties would occur during the Operation Linda Nchi, at no time had it crossed Langat’s mind that his beloved son would be one of them. He says it took days for the reality to sink; that his son was coming home in a a casket.

Langat, who is a teacher at Koruma Primary School in Kericho County, says he was very close to his deceased son who always updated him on how he was doing on in his job. He was in the first Kenyan contingent to go into Somalia in search of Al Shabaab strongholds.

His squad served in Liboi at the Kenya-Somalia border until December 26 last year, when it was deployed to Tabda in Somalia. The morning before leaving for Tabda, Kipkorir called his father informing him of the development. Little did Langat know that it was the last time he would speak to him.

"He was very jovial as usual and he assured the family not to worry as everything would be okay," Langat recalls.
But things didn’t turn out as Kipkorir had assured his father. Hardly two weeks after this conversation, the news about his death reached the family.

At first it was disbelief. Then shock. Kipkorir and his family’s lives were intertwined — everything planned around the existence of everyone.

For example, he was helping his father educate his younger siblings and was a role model to the others in the family.

He had inspired many too. Mourners from the family’s original home at Kyogong narrated how they had gained from his life.

Rose through the ranks

At the military too, Kipkoriri rose through the ranks quickly. At just age 25, he had reached the rank of troop commander, a feat many men and women in uniform work so hard to reach.

Before joining the military in early 2007, he was an Electrical Engineering student at the University of Nairobi.

He had applied for a position as a cadet officer and after passing the interview, he was enlisted into the Kenya Defence Forces.

While there he attended various military courses including a Diploma in Military Science at Egerton University and troop commanding courses.

Within four years in the force, he had risen through the ranks to become a troop commander. During his funeral last weekend, his elder brother Bernard Ngetich said Kipkorir had called him on January 9 and just hours later, he received news that he had died.

Bernard said his brother had so many plans this year, which included marrying his long time fiancÈe. He said his brother worked for every success he met.

From their humble background in Chepseon, he had maintained an exemplary academic record right from Kipyemit Primary School to Kabianga High School where he scored an aggregate A- in the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education.

Though he was pursuing a competitive course at university, Bernard said, Kipkorir’s wild passion for the military had made him abandon it and join the force.

"He always believed defending his country is a more worthy cause than anything else," says Bernard.

While eulogising the soldier, Kenya Defence Forces representative Brigadier George Kabugi told the mourners that the Al Shabaab militants that killed Kipkorir were all killed soon after.

He said that though they lost a young soldier who had a bright future, his death was not in vain and he died a hero who gave his life to protect his country.