Letter to KamauWanjiru “Drink less or no alcohol at all”

In its issue Vol 13 No. 1 of January 13 this year, The Home News published this article  by Njagi Nderitu, (who was once a Nyahururu resident) the Home News columnist in Washington DC, USA. The letter is strangely prophetic and we reproduce it as it was, headline and all.

After I lost hope in our politicians most academicians, religious leaders and even most professionals, I turned to our sports men and women for some solace.

  They have reasonably kept Kenya in the limelight in a rare  positive way. Although I have always been a diehard soccer enthusiast, with our clubs and national team Harambee Stars perennially under-achieving I have for a long time found solace in the performance by our athletes at international meetings and events.

   May it be at the Olympics or other meetings our athletic teams and individuals have performed exceptionally well. Who can deny that Rudisha made all Kenyans proud in 2010? They have over the tears given Kenyans something to smile about amid many other things to cry about.

   Along the way our champions have been able to make money and to live decent lives. The commercialization of sports has given us and our sportsmen and women something to work hard for.

Oliech and Marigaalthough coming from a soccer dwarf that Kenya has become thanks to poor management are making a good living as professional soccer players. Many Kenyans have a reason to emulate them.

However it is in athletics where we have seen the real giants. In our local Nyahururu region John Ngugi, CatheleneDereva and Sammy KamauWanjiru are our heroes.

As Kikuyus say “Njambaniithagariarika”.  (This can loosely translate to a champion is a source of pride to his/her generation).  The huge amounts of money that those champions have made together with fame and celebrity status that they attract, however come with a tag of huge responsibility!

  Real responsible champions cannot afford to let down millions of their fans and admirers around the world who look up to them for inspiration and direction. A champion cannot afford to live “as usual”.

  He or she has to observe and live by the highest possible discipline. The judgement and rulings in the court of public opinion can never be ignored by a wise champion or a public figure. It matters a lot.

  In any event the public holds the goodwill. The public has an unqualified interest and stake in the fortune and fame of a champion! A true champion may not damage that goodwill and trust.

I hosted Catherine Ndereba and other athletes in my house here in US in 2008. I promise you I felt very proud to be a Kenyan on that day.

Kogo and Ndereba had won my home town marathon earlier on that day and I decided to slaughter a goat in their honour. As we sat down for nyama choma and ugalithat evening i felt very proud to be identified with those champions.

  They were full of grace, honour, and their demeanor was down to earth. That is what makes a real champion. None of them complained of any discomfort as I loaded them from there and later off-loaded them back to their five-star hotel from my old van!

   I write all the above in view of what is going about in the life of Samuel KamauWanjiru. We have to set the record straight, unless and until Kamau is tried by a competent court of law, he remains innocent.

   That is basic law or as they say criminal law 101! However the conduct of this young champion in the recent past has been called to question again and again. The bullying and violence carried out by a gang of his handlers most of them self-appointed guards, who follow him in pubs and other social places is well documented and ugly. When he was launching his illustrious career some years ago, Kamau drew a lot of admiration due to his humble beginnings.

  His plight resonated with many young and old Kenyans in 2009, I had a very pleasant encounter with this young champion and I knew he was ready to continue winning. I was very proud to spend time with him and I will never doubt his abilities and talent.

            Son of Wanjiru, my kid brother, I have a few words for you. You are young, talented and a champion and above all very rich. Please do not blow it up! Remember your humble beginnings, your mom, your siblings and above all millions of young people who are looking up to you as their mentor and idol.

   You cannot indulge yourself in a self destruction path. Tiger Woods is suffering for an offence against his wife which would be no offence in Kenya. It will take him many years to repair his image; never mind it may never happen.

  Michael Philips the swimming champion has suffered grossly in his reputation and finances after indulging in smoking the “holy herb” in a private party. He may never be able to set back the clock.

  Had ZinadaneZindane of France not announced his retirement after 2006 world Cup, his career would have suffered a huge dent for head butting Marco Matterazi of Italy.I do not wish to remind you of the now very financially challenged Mike Tyson, Michael Vick and the jailed OJ Simpson. The list is endless Please do not go down that route.

   Remember that you are an international champion and your conduct private and public will be judged by international standards. The bar and the stakes are very high for you brother! You got good champions to emulate Paul Tergat, Haile Gablessellasieand Ndereba are just a few.

  My kid brother those who follow you around cheering you along in pubs and other social places are not your friends. They are your worst enemies.

  Please, please, please, relax, train, eat healthy, drink less or no alcohol at all and remain a true champion. There is much more money and trophies to be won by you, please!

  Last but not least, my brother, money is not everything. Your reputation and your future matters a lot. That which you cannot do in London, New York, Berlin, Boston and other international cities, please do not in Kenya or Nyahururu.

  You are our ambassador at large. Those who idol you now will evaporate as soon as you get into trouble. Offload the baggage, you do not need idlers around you in the name of an army of guards.

  I am not saying that you expose yourself, but true champions know where and when it is safe to eat, drink and sleep.               One very last thing brother, true champions never never showoff.

  Take this or ignore it but only your freal friends will tell you the truth when it matters. Let us stay our of trouble.

njaginderitu@yahoo.com

Mau Mau War Veterans Association still divided over possible British compensation

Hundreds of Mau Mau war remnants turned up in their hundreds at the Nyahururu stadium on Wednesday, May 18, for an update on the progress of a case in which they are seeking compensation from the British Government for the atrocities against them by the colonial government.

  They were updated by among others the National Secretary general of the Mau Mau War Veterans Association, GituKahengeri, a programme officer with the Kenya Human Right Commission (KHRC) George Morara, and the association’s National Vice Chairman, KiburuM’Mburugu.

Kahengeri, who conveyed the greetings and apology of the national chairman Ndung’uGicheru, said that the case was progressing quite well. He said that contrary to falsehoods which he said was being propagated by a splinter group purporting to be handling the case, the matter was yet to be finalized. He asked the provincial administration and state intelligence organs to take action against some people who he claimed were going around collecting money from members of the association purportedly towards the expenses of the case and for other dubious reasons.

  “It very sad that conmen have been soliciting for cash from old people including widows and widowers claiming they are opening bank accounts in readiness to bank compensation funds for them from the British government. I appeal to the government to protect our people from this exploitation,” he said.

  The leader said that all expenses were being footed by the KHRC, who he thanked for shouldering the case. He asked the members to ignore the rumors and promised them that more frequent public meetings would be held from time to time for further updates. He also told them to resist insulting anybody but instead tell them off politely.

Morara told the meeting held at the Nyahururu stadium that KHRC lawyers had devised new legal tactics to handle the case, including bringing torture that and inhuman treatment against the victims. He said the case embraced fighters in the forest,  women and children who suffered in detention and the reserves, the scouts.

  The officer said that the Kenya government was very supportive towards the case. He said it had contracted a historian to compile a dossier that will give the British government a run for its money during the hearing, which he said would likely be fixed when the matter comes up for mention in June or July this year.

 The meeting was also addressed by the organization’s Nyahururu District secretary general, Grace WanjiruKinyua.

  Meanwhile, another group of leaders of the same association, led by the Nyahururu district chairman John Charles Wanjohi, disassociated themselves from the sentiments expressed at the meeting, claiming that Kahengeri was “an impostor and had no authority to hold any meetings of the association”.

  Speaking to The Home News after the meeting, Wanjohi and his team said that the KHRC had nothing to do with the case in reference.

  “Our national chairman is Elijah KinyuaNg’ang’aa.k.a General Bahati while the National Secretary General is MwaiMuthigi. The National Organizing Secretary is General Matenjagwo. We are pushing the compensation case through the Attorney General, and we are at an advanced stage,” said Wanjohi.

Wanjohi claimed that he had not been informed of the meeting at the stadium. He asked members of the association not to be deceived by the Kahengeri group.

  “Members should wait for communication from General Bahati, who, by good luck, hails from Nyandarua County,” said Wanjohi, who introduced his vice chairman as Simon Njuguna, Mary WanjikuWachiuri (secretary), and Mary NyamburaMwangi (treasurer).

Countdown to the death of KamauWanjiru

After a day and night of carousing having left his training camp in Eldoret on Saturday, May 14, Samuel KamauWanjiru stopped in Nakuru for rounds of drinks and a cheery session with friends.

 Judy Wambui, a pregnant woman who would later claim to be his other wife, reported Kamau passed by her house at White House area in Kiti estate on the outskirts of Nakuru, before departing for Nyahururu on Sunday, May 15.

   On arrival in Nyahururu, from Nakuru, Kamau engaged in partying session in company of one Daniel Gatheru, a friend and fellow athlete with whom he trains. They visited  Jimrock Restaurant where he had allegedly an appointment with a Barclays Bank employee only identified as George. This was around 7.00pm.

  At around 10.00pm Kamau arrives at the Water Falls Resort where he and friends took drinks and snacks.Kamau is said to have taken sausages and samosas. He said to have stayed there for about an hour and left for home. Shortly before midnight, Kamau arrives at his palatial home in Muthaiga Estate in Nyahururu while in company of a woman who works at Kawa Falls Restaurant.  The woman has been identified as Jane Nduta.

  At around midnight, Kamau’s wife TrizaNjeri arrives unexpectedly from Nairobi, where she now lives, and after opening her matrimonial house with a spare key, she climbs the stairs and finds her husband who was not expecting her, with Nduta and a quarrel starts.

  At Around 1.00am (Monday morning) an irate Njeri storms out of the bedroom  and locks the staircase grill door, thereby shutting in Kamau and Nduta.

Njeri is alleged to have shouted to Kamau that he was going to let police and sundry know what Kamau had done.

  Police claimed that Kamau tried to speak to his wife, but he finds the door locked. It is at this juncture, Nyahurururumours say, that Kamau decides to jump over the first floor balcony railing, lands with a thud on the concrete floor and sustains serious internal and head injuries.

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