19 years on, Ouko killers still at large - They should now come out in the open.

March 22nd, 2009

By John Oywa

Mrs Christabel Ouko sat on a small swivel office chair, surrounded by books, files and pictures of her late husband.

A wooden plaque with inscriptions, ‘Dr J.R Ouko’, lay on the table.

"This was his private home office and study room. He sat on this same chair on the day he disappeared," she said, her voice diminishing into a hollow undertone.

Mrs Christabel Ouko at her Koru home, on Thursday.

She struggled to hide her pain and years of sorrow as she spoke about her husband, former Foreign Affairs Minister John Robert Ouko, who was kidnapped and murdered 19 years ago.

It may be a long time since he died, but on the 19th anniversary of the tragedy, Christabel recalls everything as if it happened yesterday.

White Car

Thick grass has since grown near the family gate where ‘a white car’ allegedly took away Ouko from his Koru home on the night of February 12, 1990.

After years of silence, Christabel, 67, now wants a truth and reconciliation commission set up so that the people who planned and executed her husband can be brought to book.

"The pain has refused to go away. I have forgiven those who killed him, but I would like to know who did it and why," she told The Standard yesterday in an interview at her Koru home.

She added: "I long for the day these people will confess. It is time we have a truth and reconciliation commission."

Christabel, who has kept a low profile at her Koru home in Nyando District, said she was devastated by death of Pamela Mboya recently, whose husband, former Planning Minister Thomas Joseph Mboya, was also assassinated in Nairobi in 1969.

Like Ouko, Mboya’s assassination has not been resolved.

"Pamela was an inspiration to me. We shared a lot about the killing of our husbands. She counselled and encouraged me. Her death has inflicted more pain in me," said Christabel.

Although many people, including politicians who attended Pamela’s burial last weekend did not notice her, Christabel was among the mourners.

"I know many people did not recognise me because I sat with ordinary mourners," she said.

She did not want to go into the details of her husband’s death, saying the matter was still sensitive.

Mrs Christabel Ouko in her home library.

"I have kept a low profile because I hope one day, the truth will be known. I have resigned myself to fate and left everything to God because only He knows why certain things happen," she said. This year, she says, the family will not commemorate Ouko’s death because they have planned a bigger service next year during the 20th anniversary.

"I will be saying a silent prayer for him from my bedroom and in church. But we have planned a bigger event next year when we may unveil some of the projects we plan to do in his memory," said the widow.

Business Documents

In her husband’s private office, Christabel was studying family business documents.

"Today is a sad day for us because on this day 19 years ago, we were in shock. It is painful," she said, her eyes darting across the office. The office is also a library, with several books that belonged to Ouko. They are on politics, philosophy and religion.

"Dr Ouko liked reading. He not only kept, but read all of them. I plan to set up a separate library to keep them," she said. "We soldier on because life has to continue despite challenges."

Christabel spends most of her time supervising her farms and attending local women’s group meetings.

She goes to Nairobi occasionally to visit her children and grandchildren.

"Sometimes my grandchildren visit me and I spend a lot of time with them," she says.

She has started a nursery school at home. "My trust in God has kept me going. It is also good because my children are adults," she told The Standard.

The last time Christabel spoke about her husband’s death was in 2004 when she testified before a Parliamentary Select Committee investigating the death.

She told the committee, chaired by former Kisumu Town East MP Gor Sungu, that she was in their Nairobi home when she learnt that her husband, whose was in Koru, had mysteriously gone missing.

source.standard.ke