Nairobi's Darkest Day

City in the Sun

When in primary school, all of us pupils back then used to look forward to when the term would end and have our holidays. As the exams of end of term came to an end, we would fantasize on all the activities to carry out and especially games to play in the whole month of April, August or December. I remember the closing day ceremony on 7^th August, 1998. A relatively cool morning in Nairobi, we assembled as a school on that Friday morning and by 10:00 am, we were sprinting home. I couldn’t wait to tune in and catch the morning cartoon shows. I remember finding my mother seemingly agitated. Not a fan of TV, she was keenly drawn to our 14” Great wall TV and I couldn’t figure out what the matter was. Without a word, I tried to make out what it was on TV. It seemed like a horror movie…flames engulfing a few buildings, people running in all directions, most covered in blood and melee that indicated something was very wrong.

But this was no movie as it was easy to identify that the horror on TV was in Nairobi and without any reporting, a caption on the bottom of the screen solemnly read: BREAKING NEWS-BOMB BLAST IN NAIROBI.

Devastation in the City

By that time, all I knew about bombs was what I’d seen on Hollywood flicks in movies and the pseudonym term we used for farting. With time, it was emerging clear that a catastrophe had befallen our Nairobi-the city under the sun. I was young back then but the reality dawned harshly on all of us as Kenyans. Over 200 people lost their lives on that fateful Friday morning. Thousand others were injured and millions of us acquired emotional scars that have never healed completely. In 1998 was the first time I learned of the term ‘terrorism’, a cowardly act of segments of people who like to have their agenda known or taken seriously by robbing of others life.

I remember 16 years later, the terror and anguish that gripped us as children. I was not even double digits old and I can never forget how with my small sisters-two years my junior, how we would put Bibles beneath our pillows in the night. We needed divine protection. I almost swore to never step into Nairobi the city. A tiny blast, even that of a balloon bursting would send cold shivers down our spines. We were scared.

Names of the 257 that perished at the Memorial Park

It’s now 16 years since Osama bin Laden and his Al Qaeda cronies based in Sudan back them decided to and executed terror unknown before to a people who were known throughout for their hospitality and peaceful nature. Almost two decades since that dark day in Nairobi’s history. It would be a forlorn look back at history if the events of that morning were just but a part of history. Sadly, things seem to have only gotten worse. Terrorism is now a global calamity that takes away the lives of thousands annually. Only three years later was the world shaken to a standstill when the US-seemingly the most secure nation on Earth suffered even worst attacks with 0ver 3,000 people perishing in the terror attacks of 9/11.                                                                                      

To compound the matters, a majority of victims have never had justice. And even if the American government decides to compensate the victims of the attack in 1998, some things money just cannot restore, especially to families and loved ones that had people’s lives snatched away from then in an instant. An instant of madness. An instant that proves that man is inherently evil.

May the souls of all that passed away passed away on that fateful morning rest in eternal peace. We will never forget.