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One fine morning, Julius Mwandawiro Mghanga tempted fate by mobilizing all students of the University of Nairobi to the football pitch overlooking Uhuru Highway. He wanted then to demonstrate their defiance to the government.
To crown the occasion was a guard of honour mounted by the first graduates of the infamous pre-university National Youth Service.
Students saw the service as a punishment meant to kill their spirits, dehorn them after high school and make them docile against state machinations. It was their day to prove that the NYS exercise had no effect on their principles.
As chairman of the students union SONU, Mwandawiro was scheduled to inspect a guard of honour. This was the biggest suicidal act ever seen by most Kenyans, why? It happened during the fearful rein of President Daniel Arap Moi.
As the inspection of the guard of honour was going on, GSU police arrived and in the stampede swiftly arrested Mghanga. In the commotion one student Joseph Wandera died. Mwandawiro was sent to the gallows to cool his heels.
Born in Werugha location Taita-Taveta County in 1959, Mwandawiro attended Werugha Primary School before joining Starehe Boys Centre to study under the famous administrator Geoffrey Griffins.
His journey towards politics started at the University of Nairobi in 1983 when he vied and won the leadership of the student’s organization SONU left vacant after the jailing of Titus Adungosi.
He led the union until 1985 when he was arrested after his guard of honour was seen as an act of defiance against the Moi regime. With a group of other student leaders they were expelled from the university and the government intensified crackdown on the so called dissidents.
Mwandawiro redefined student leadership by leading from the front. A daring man in his own right, fearless, brave and courageous student leader who did not shy away from any political duel in and outside campus.
Easy with Kiswahili and down to earth, his simplicity endeared him to the student fraternity who saw him as the embodiment of the downtrodden. On his release he went into exile after realizing the state agents were on his trails.
Those were the days when one could be arrested for trumped up charges, tried even at night and jailed or detained at the President’s pleasure and wishes.
He reappeared in Sweden as a political refugee. To continue with his life, he registered as a postgraduate student at the Stockholm University for his MA before doing an Msc at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences.
After the collapse of the KANU regime he vied for the Wundanyi seat and became the Member of Parliament between 2002 – 2007.
