I worked with Ambassador Bethuel Kiplagat as his assistant and chief executive on the Somali National Reconciliation Conference, which ran from October 2002 to January 2004, first in Eldoret, relocating to Mbagathi in January 2003.
The talks brought 22 Somali leaders, notable among them Hussein Hassan Aideed, Mohamed Qanyare Afrah, Mohamed Hirsi, better known as General Morgan, Musa Sudi Yalahow, (the late) Mohamed D’eere, and (the late) Abdullahi Yusuf, as well as women luminaries, notably (the late) Starlin Abdi Arush and Asha Hagi Elmi.
The Eldoret phase of the talks was under the then Kenya Special Envoy to Somalia (the late) Elijah Mwangale. Kiplagat was in charge of the second phase at Mbagathi and Safari Park Hotel.
If you asked me to summarise his character in a few words, I would say he was a great listener. He would allow you to say what you had in your mind and would not interrupt.
You could sense, from his body language and facial expressions, that he was listening actively and attentively to you. You had to be careful with what you said, because after listening, he would ask questions to clarify issues, blinking. And if you were not prepared to answer him, he would be very upset with you, and he would not hide it, he’d tell it to your face.
As his assistant, I got on his wrong side more than once. He would be in the office very early, often earlier than I could make it, putting me in an embarrassing situation, given that he was much my senior, in age and experience.
‘Why didn’t you pick up my call last night?’ he would ask, visibly agitated.
‘Last night, sir? At what time?’ I asked.
‘2am’ he intoned.
‘I must have been asleep. I switched off my phone, sir, for there were a number of late-night calls that interfered with my sleep,’ I explained.
He stood up from his chair and moved very close to me. I had never seen him that angry.
‘Never, ever, switch off your phone! This is a 24-hour job. If you are not up to it, I have to look for another assistant,’ he said with an emphasis that drove the point home. Of course I apologised, and thankfully for me, he accepted my apologies.
He was a meticulous time keeper. For him, one minute before an appointment was not the time. One minute after, was not the time either. You had to be on time. And if you didn't respect time, he would rub the importance of keeping time into your skin, like you would with Vaseline.
The talks were run on a shoestring budget; money was in short supply. The 300 or so delegates invited for the talks swelled to over1,000, posing a logistical nightmare.
Suitable, secure and affordable accommodation was difficult to find. The delegates were kicked out of hotels from time to time and Kiplagat would send me to plead with the hotel managers to continue accommodating and feeding the delegates, as they were the guests of the Kenyan government.
The talks were held under the auspices of Igad. The European Union, the Arab League and some UN agencies chipped in with financing to keep the talks going, but the Kenyan government picked up the lion’s share of the bills, even long after the talks were over.
I saw Kiplagat pay money out of his pocket when some delegates were pushed against the wall. He listened to individual delegates and understood their problems. He demonstrated empathy and compassion.
After he told me not to switch off my phone, even at night, we had some intense engagements stretching long into the night. Somali delegates would arrive at the airports, at Wilson and the JKIA.
A number of delegates would be held there, and Ambassador would call me to go and clear them through immigration. Some had altercations with law enforcement and were held in police custody. I had to get them out, if they were bona fide invited delegates to the talks. We had to do the filtering, those invited would be let in and taken to their respective hotels.
Such talks are not without the occasional temper flares, sometimes leading to physical confrontations. Years of war and hostilities would bring bad memories to the surface during the talks, when raw nerves would be touched and people round a table would rise to fight!
Kiplagat would look on calmly and more often than not he would cool things down. Only rarely would he call in the security personnel on the compound, if things went out of hand.
Kiplagat knew the delegates by name, and that endeared him to them. He earned and cultivated their trust, emerging as a neutral, dependable arbiter and broker of peace.
Kiplagat wasn’t just fluent in English. He was eloquent. He was master of the finer aspects of the language, prosodic stress, tone, rhythm and intonation. When he opened his mouth to speak, he would engage and captivate his audience. He was equally eloquent in French. This kept the Djibouti Francophone delegation in check.
The Igad frontline states of Ethiopia, Kenya and Djibouti were the principal drivers of the talks. Kiplagat ensured that a neutral path was followed. He ensured that the peace talks were owned and driven by the Somalis themselves. He saw himself only as a peace envoy, listening, arbitrating, mediating, negotiating and facilitating.
Kiplagat was unassuming. He exuded immense humility, respect and thought deeply about things. He spoke softly but with conviction, persuasion and vigour, about the things he believed in, about his vision of peace for Somalia.
When the talks hit a stalemate, he came up with a clan-based formula, in which the major clans — Darod, Dir, Digil and Mirifle, Hawiye and Isaaq — would share power equitably. This broke the stalemate.
On October 10, 2004, The Transitional Federal Parliament elected Abdullahi Yusuf, a former President of Puntland, as President of the newly formed Transitional Federal Government of Somalia, laying the foundation for durable peace in an ill-fated country afflicted by war for over 14 years.
Kiplagat mentored many young officers in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. At his feet, we learnt the sacrosanct art of silent and active listening, avoiding frivolous intervention in a discussion, the finer art of mediation, negotiation and facilitation.
We learnt the meaning of compassion and empathy. We learnt from him a commitment to public service beyond the call of duty, without any desire for personal gain, and the basic lessons in diplomatic engagement.
Ambassador Kiplagat, I shall remember you as a Kenyan who has made a mark not just in Kenya, but also on the African and global diplomatic stage, and on the stage of Peace, Truth and Reconciliation. Rest thee well.
Amb Dr Hukka Wario
Former CEO of the Somali National Reconciliation Conference and Former Kenya Ambassador to China and to Zimbabwe.