- A week ago, he saw two people walking unsteadily during his normal rounds at the farm where he works.
- He called his friends at the GSU Galana, who came and picked them.
Image: JOHN CHESOLI
On Tuesday morning, Cavin Omondi, 28, woke up early as usual and by 6.30am was already doing rounds at the expansive farm, Wondernut Kenya Limited in Shakahola, where he is a farm manager.
Then he came across a man, who looked weary and confused, sitting on the ground.
It was an unusual sight.
Normally, he would meet herders with their animals and they usually looked healthy and energetic, often in groups and talking loudly amongst themselves, laughing.
Omondi approached the man to inquire what was wrong with him because apart from looking tired, he also seemed disillusioned.
“He kept giving me vague answers. You could not understand what he was saying,” Omondi said.
“I realised that this could be one of the followers of Pastor Paul Mackenzie, trying to flee either from the horror show or the already radicalised ones trying to flee from the search and rescue team,” the professional agronomist said.
He asked the man to board his motorcycle but the man refused saying he was okay and that he was waiting for his boda boda rider whom b he had already called.
“I insisted. He wanted to run. So I called one of the herders who helped me force him on my motorbike and I rode to the rescue team,” Omondi said.
This was not the first time he has encountered such since the search and rescue operation was launched by the government following the discovery of mass graves inside Mackenzie’s 800-acre farm.
A week ago, he saw two people walking unsteadily during his normal rounds at the farm where he works.
He called his friends at the GSU Galana, who came and picked them.
“About three days ago, some herders informed me there was a woman with a child wondering in the forest. I called the area assistant chief and we went to check on her,” Omondi said.
The woman also looked tired, dehydrated and weak. The child was too weak to speak, but you could see she was hungry.
“She was just walking around,” Omondi said. “These guys, if you just look at them, you know there is a problem somewhere.”
He said; “The way they talk, they have no energy because of fasting.”
“I am sad because people have lost their family members in this forest,” Omondi said.
When he heard that Interior CS Kithure Kindiki was to visit the Shakahola forest to lead the resumption of the exhumation exercise, he decided he had to see him and shake his hand.
“I had to make sure I personally tell him what has been happening and what I have done for the government. The only thing I request the government is a meaningful job,” Omondi said.
When Kindiki allowed journalists to ask questions, Omondi grabbed the chance.
Everyone thought he was a journalist and when the CS pointed at him, having raised his hand, he grabbed the opportunity.
After informing Kindiki how he has helped rescue the five, he asked the CS to offer him a job.
Kindiki said the government appreciates the local community, volunteers and people who support the government, in many different ways like providing amenities for all the people involved in the search and rescue operation like Mombasa Cement Company does.
Mombasa Cement Company has partnered with the government to provide food, water and other soft drinks, in addition to providing logistical support and sanitation to those involved in the operation.
They have built 15 temporary bathrooms fitted with water for those involved in the operation to freshen up after every shift.
Twenty toilets, both semi-permanent and mobile, have also been set up.
“We have set up a kitchen for them and a store. There are four camps here belonging to the GSU, the Army and other security personnel,” Mohammed Rafiq, the Mombasa Cement field manager in charge of the Shakahola rescue operations, said.
Every evening, police land cruisers get food items, including cooking oil, tea leaves, sugar, flour and other supplies including soap, mosquito nets, tissue papers, toothpicks from the tents set up by company to their camps.
The also provide petrol for the police vehicles and the generators they have donated to be used for lighting and charging phones.
“Everyday, about 20 litres of petrol is spent here,” Rafiq said.
Two water boozers are ever on standby to provide fresh water.
On Tuesday, Mombasa Cement’s Imtiaz Sayani said they are helping the government because they are doing a great job and that humanity demands that they help where they can.
“It is our duty to help the government rescue fellow Kenyans,” Sayani said.
CS Kindiki also appreciated Omondi saying he may have well helped nurture Kenya’s future president.
“Maybe you have rescued somebody’s father. Maybe the children of that man now have an opportunity of having a father, who’ll nurture one of those children even to be the President of this country. You never know,” said the CS.
“Ata hio mambo nyengine ya kazi nitakusort (I will also sort you out on that other issue of a job),” Kindiki told Omondi before holding a brief meeting with him after the press briefing.
Omondi is married and is a father to one child.
“My wife and child live in Kilifi,” he told the Star.
Image: JOHN CHESOLI