By Eric Wamanji
I was in the tiny ‘red office’ on Ngong Road, when my twitter blipped, briefly interrupting my train of thought and the rough bang on the keyboard. President Uhuru Kenyatta, in his State of the Nation address, had posthumously honoured Salah Sabdow Fara.
I was temporarily numbed. Then I got rash and a shiver. My eyes welled, before I stood, clenched fist and went “Yeeeey!”
By getting the Order of the Grand Warrior, the state has indeed, acknowledged the powerful, selfless role that Salah played by shielding Christians in Mandera. The chap, may he RIP, audaciously confronted the menacing Al-Shabaab troop in December last year and stood to them.
Al-Shabaab had actually desired to repeat a pattern. To stop the bus and separate Christians and Muslims then shoot Christians as was the case in an earlier incident. Farah, wherever he got the balls, God knows, he said no. He was shot. Many lives were saved. Sadly, his would end tragically, and he died having paid the ultimate price. He is a hero; a martyr of goodness if you will.
In a country full of extremism – ethnic, political, religious and economic, and in a country where selfishness tilts the scales, and where the bad guys, thieves, extortionists, racketeers and schemers are manufactured at an industrial scale, Salah’s action came a like a waft of fresh air. He would, if he wanted, kept quiet, save his life and continue enjoying life on earth. He chose otherwise. A tall order for most of us.
But his act goes beyond saving lives. It’s a one in a million powerful symbolic gesture that in every sense of the word, demystified the religious divide and send strong signals to extremists that their ideologies are unwelcome.
In its symbolic gesture of honouring such heroism, the state shamed merchants and cheerleaders of terrorisms and its skewed ideologies.
What the state need to do, it should even erect a monument at the site of the attacks to remind humanity that, well, there are souls that can ignore false teachings, souls that are courageous and souls that teach us something about true brotherhood. Salah’s dependents and children need to be supported.
To me that chap is a legend. It would be another feting honour to produce a short film about the man and the incident. He died a hero in the true sense of the word. In the search of a solution to the terrorism menace, Salah’s narrative should never be lost. It should be kept alive. It should be shared across the nation.
The de-radicalisation engineer
But the state should also not forget another chap from Eastleigh, Ayub Mohamud. This great Kenyan knows something that seems to escape our security apparatuses. He knows that guns do not necessarily fight battle of ideologies. The best weapon is to de-radicalise using brainpower. In his noble course, the Eastleigh teacher, captured world attention.
He was even nominated for the prestigious Global Teachers Prize. He may not have won the award but, he won our hearts, his model is a key reminder that its grassroots efforts, of “small, nondescript people,” which will win the war over terror.
We don’t need to wait many decades ahead for us to honour Mr. Ayub. Let’s decorate him today for his selfless, insightful labour that is aiding the country to defang the spectre of terrorism.
Ayub’s ministry should also be supported to mentor many other likeminded citizens. You see, this guy doesn’t own a gun. Probably he has not seen one. But through his acumen he has felled, and frustrated Al-Shabaab more than what your everyday cop in the world would have done…. and remember he doesn’t ask for kitu kidogo. He is not even blowing his trumpet, as most Kenyan would have done. If you ask me for a choice of a celebrity, then Ayub will be top of the peak. He is a hero.
The symbolism of the two gentlemen, and their impact, far outweighs the efforts of a whole barracks towards fundamentalism and extremism.
The writer is a communication and media advisor Wamanji@rococo.co.ke