Mudavadi's son: How I saved myself during Dusit attack

Imagine playing a video game and you are attacked by an enemy. Even in that imaginary situation, there will be a fight-or-flight response to save oneself. 

Unfortunately, this played out  in real life for Michael Lulu Mudavadi, son of the ANC party leader. 

Lulu remembers January 15, 2019, as the day he put video gaming skills in action to save his life during the DusitD2 terror attack.

He is an avid video gamer, who had to implement some of things he'd watched, this time in real life, on that Tuesday afternoon.

For one hour and 45 minutes, it seemed like the imaginary world of playing a game like ‘Call of Duty’.

He was at his office at the Dusit complex when they heard an explosion.

“We heard a huge loud bang and the windows were shattered, glasses flying, and everyone was in panic and screaming. Guys started shouting that’s a bomb,” Lulu said during an interview with the Star.

He assumed it was a small incident that would be handled and they continued working.

“I used to work there at a marketing agency. Our company was on the first floor,” he said.

Lulu was calm, packed his bag and started questioning how a heavily guarded Dusit complex would be under attack.

"I walked towards the entrance and I started hearing the rapid fire. I stopped and I was like 'that sounds like gun shots',” he added.

It’s only a few minutes later that they looked through the entrance and saw five men shooting at the Dusit entrance.

He planned with his colleagues on how to counter the attack while imagining what he would do in a game.

“We were very strategic. We hid just around the entrance where we would be seen first during the rescue,” Lulu said.

They went into the fire exit and covered themselves with construction material.

“We barricaded the door with a few chairs, ran down to the bottom floor. Even if they broke in there, they would just think its construction material,” he said.

It is at this point that he made a call to his ‘mzee’: Musalia Mudavadi.

The stream of thoughts changed from the reality of the situation to the value of life.

Had he lived his life well? What if everything didn't go well? How about his family?

Back home, his father, mother, Tessy Mudavadi, siblings and friends all put him in prayers.

Phone calls and text messages streamed in but he could not pick at that moment.

He was asked to coordinate with his elder brother, Moses, to alert him where he was.

From their strategic hiding place, Lulu and his two colleagues, were the first to be rescued.

“My brother came to Dusit with two of my dad’s bodyguards. We managed to coordinate on the phone,’’ he said.

Luckily, he did not loose any colleagues in the attack.

Lulu is the secondborn son.

Many would expect he was brought up in a fancy kind of lifestyle but  surprisingly, his parents instilled in them the spirit of humility and being accommodative to everybody.

“Our mom would tell us that we were born into a political family and there’s nothing we can do," he said.

Tessy and Mudavadi always wanted their three children (a daughter and two sons) to have a normal life.

Being a veteran politician’s son, he recalls when his father lost the presidential election in 2013.

“The mood changed from euphoric to sombre in hours but what I can tell my dad right now is he needs to go direct to the ballot” he said.

Mudavadi vied in 2013 with Jeremiah Kioni as his running mate.

Away from the podium and the political space, Lulu describes his parents as disciplinarians.

“I was a naughty kid. I remember I once sneaked out and came back to meet the wrath of both of them. It was a hot grilling,” he said.

He also appreciates his parents for allowing them to be what they want in life.

“Our parents have always told us to pursue our own dreams and do what makes us happy,” he added.

Lulu is not ready to join politics yet, but said he doesn't mind being a leader once he matures politically.

On January 15, 2019, al Shabaab militants attacked a commercial business complex in Nairobi.

The attack began at 15:28 when Mahir Riziki, suicide bomber, detonated himself.

Other four gunmen – Ali Salim Gichunge, Osman Ibrahim Gedi, Siyat Omar Abdi, and an unknown individual later proceeded with the attack using AK rifles and grenades, targeting people within the hotel and surrounding shops.

(edited by Amol Awuor)