Give dialogue and peace a chance, ex-soldiers plead with Ruto, Raila

It is the current state of political instability caused by the political disagreement between opposition leader Raila Odinga and President William Ruto that brings back dark memories to veterans of the military who paid a costly price in wars.

Mutoro had just been appointed as Aide De camp of the UN secretary-general during his visit to Kenya in 1981, a few years after he rose from the rank of captain.

"Life took a different turn in 1982 when there was an attempted coup d'etat. There was a routine military exercise going on but I decided to join my family that weekend. The exercise was cancelled abruptly and all troops had to report back," he recalls.

"The schemers of the coup used the confusion to plan it and when it failed, all the air force top officers were picked and detained," Mutoro adds. The 1982 unrest made him realise the importance of peace and inspired him to become a peace ambassador and a guide to military veterans in the Western region.

According to the Military Veterans Act of 2022, a veteran is someone who has served in the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) before independence or after independence in any of three service units (Kenya Navy, Airforce, and Army)

"Right now we don't need any confusion in our leadership. The leaders must talk, for peace to prevail," he advises. Captain Joseph Mwangi joined the Kenya Airforce in 1977 after the East African Community (EAC) collapsed. He was set to join East African Airways as a pilot.

Despite him being among the pilots in President Daniel Moi's escort that used to usher him into the country, the 1982 coup did not spare him. "I was detained in King'ong'o for a week, then Kamiti Medium Prison which was infested with lice. We were only allowed to go out in the sun 15 minutes a day," he recalls.

They were later transferred to Naivasha Maximum Prison, where he says his focus shifted to the holy scriptures in the Bible before he faced his fate of dismissal without benefits.

War in Sudan

From his experience with the unrest in Kenya, his wish is that the political state in the country should never slide back there again.

Smoke fills the sky in Khartoum, Sudan, near Doha International Hospital on April 21, 2023. [AP photo]

"People should not go streets to demonstrate, no protests have led to any good but loss of lives and property then violence. It starts small then it becomes uncontrollable," Capt Mwangi appeals.

Mwangi is quick to mention the war in Sudan noting that wars breaking in countries mostly result from two generals disagreeing but those suffering the brunt are innocent civilians, while the schemers are safe.

"Most wars have just started with two people not agreeing. Even in the Ukraine-Russian war, the two leaders are not agreeing, but those dying are civilians and soldiers. No development is going on and there, are others who celebrate war as they will supply weapons, it's all about money."He says if two warring parties are willing, then there is no way dialogue can fail. "Leaders need to lower their ego," he Urges.

After his detention for seven and a half months, his service in the Tiger Squadron came to an end in 1983, luckily Capt Mwangi retained his commercial licence as a pilot.

Another Veteran, Stanley Kiama has seen it all from the Maumau regime, the 1982 coup, to the war in Iran, and many more. He joined the military as a combat officer after graduating with a Degree in Education in 1987. "I was enlisted as a lieutenant in 1978, on the same day Mzee Jomo Kenyatta died."

Kiama remembers vividly the news of a coup in the country, on a day he was attending a training course in Lanet Nakuru then under Major Jeremiah Kianga, Major General (the late) Joseph Nkaiserry.

He explains that the coup failed because it was very hard for the air force to take up a country without the support of the army on the ground. "The land forces are supported by the air force and the navy. The coup was planned by junior people in the air force who did not understand how to do it. They were drunk," he reveals.

Having taken key roles in peacekeeping missions, Kiama says he takes pride in serving in the KDF-which he termed as disciplined, effective, and professional.

From 1981 to 1982, Uganda was experiencing unrest between Yoweri Museveni and Milton Obote and later General Tito Okello who was also the president. Kiama was sent to Uganda for a peace-observing mission.

Civilian president

Former President Moi was in charge of peace talks between Museveni and General Tito. "We believe the country has a civilian president and the soldiers are there to support the government of the day. Politics and nation's security should never clash," explains Kiama

The veteran was later sent to the Middle East to enforce peace between Iran and Iraq. One of the longest wars in the world between Sadam Hussein and Ayatolla Ruholla Khomeini of Iran.

"The experience there was devastating. They took more than two million lives. The war was being fought along the border from the Persian Gulf to the Russian border. And everything was in rubles," he narrates.

Bishop Robert Mbukua a Kenya Navy veteran says, maintaining peace is a responsibility of every Kenyan country's development.