On Thursday, I travelled to Leicester to witness a historic moment. It is a significant day in the history of England.
I was privileged to watch thousands of British people, young and old, in the streets of Leicester, who had turned out in large numbers to pay their respects to their King who died in battle over five centuries ago. The events of the day made me have deep reflections about my home, Kenya.
Five hundred and twenty seven years can sound like a period erased out of the memory of history. But that is the period that has elapsed since the death of King Richard III of England. Richard, the last King from the house of York, died on the
August
22,
1485 at the Battle of Bosworth Field and is considered one of England's historic heroes.
History documents that on
August
22,
1485, Richard met the weakened army of Henry Tudor at the Battle of Bosworth Field. Richard's army was about 8,000, against Henry's estimated 5,000. Richard III led a cavalry charge deep into the enemy ranks in an attempt to end the battle quickly by striking and killing Henry Tudor himself.
Accounts note that King Richard III in defense of the throne, fought bravely and ably during this manoeuvre, unhorsing Sir John Cheyne, a well-known jousting champion, killing Henry's standard bearer Sir William Brandon and coming within a sword's length of Henry Tudor before being surrounded by Sir William Stanley's men and killed. King Richard III was the last English king to be killed in battle.
Richard III's body was buried at Greyfriars Friary in Leicester in a crude grave in the friary church.
After the friary's dissolution in 1538 and its subsequent demolition, Richard's tomb was lost.
With the help of archaeologists, a search for Richard's body commenced in
August 2012, initiated by the Looking for Richard project with the support of the Richard III Society. Headed by the University of Leicester Archaeological Services and in partnership with Leicester City Council, the excavation process was initiated.
Preliminary DNA analysis also showed that mitochondrial DNA extracted from the bones matched that of two matrilineal descendants, one 17th-generation and the other 19th-generation, of Richard's sister Anne of York. Taking these findings into account along with other historical, scientific and archaeological evidence, the University of Leicester announced on
February
4,
2013, that it had concluded beyond reasonable doubt that the skeleton they had found belonged to Richard III.
On March
22,
2015, King Richard III's remains were moved from the University of Leicester to Leicester Cathedral via the site of the Battle of Bosworth at Fenn Hill Farm and then through local villages, retracing part of Richard's last journey before death.
From March 23 to
25, the skeleton
stayed at the cathedral for viewing and Cardinal Vincent Nichols, the Archbishop of Westminster, celebrated Mass for Richard III's soul in Holy Cross Priory, Leicester, the Catholic parish church and Holy Cross Church.
On March
26, a final and dignified farewell for King Richard III was done in what was described by the Bishop of Leicester as a "solemn, but hopefully extraordinary moment" in English history brought about by Richard's death on
August 22, 1485.
The search and final interment of King Richard III is a great lesson for Kenya to borrow from.
It is a challenge to us as a nation and we should be embarrassed that its only 58 years since Mau Mau hero Field Marshal Dedan Kimathi was executed at the Kamiti Maximum Security Prison by the colonial government, and we are yet to know exactly where his remains are.
Kibaki administration's effort of erecting Dedan Kimathi's statue along Kimathi Street is commendable, but that alone is not enough.
It will be dishonourable for us to continue lazing around instead of taking a decisive measure to locate, exhume and rebury our freedom hero in dignity.
Ours will be much easier than Richard III's because Kimathi's immediate family relatives are still alive and thus the DNA samples will not be a challenge.
I urge not only the national government through relevant ministries to be involved, but also archaeology scholars, University of Nairobi's department of Anthropology, the civil society, and Nairobi, Nyeri and Kiambu governments.
The county governments should be involved because Nairobi is Kenya's capital, Kimathi was born in Nyeri and Kamiti Prison is in Kiambu.
President Uhuru Kenyatta should honour Kimathi by ensuring his reburial during his tenure.
Ruth Mumbi is a Human Rights Defender and a visiting fellow at the University of York, UK.