Dr Julie Caroline Onyango is a former County Government of Siaya CECM who is currently aspiring for the Siaya County Woman Rep position. Below is her tribute to Government pathologist Bernard Owino Midia who performed the autopsy on Albert Omondi Ojwang.
In a country where truth is shunned and lies glorified;
Where life is a donated luxury and not an inalienable right;
Where all humans are equal, but some are more equal than others;
Where earth is constantly baying for citizens’ blood, and no amount suffices to quench its thirst;
Where citizens shoot themselves on their heads, break their limbs, bind themselves up, douse their bodies in petrol, set themselves ablaze, then run up a hill to breathe their last;
Where insects perform surgical incisions of multiple human body parts with technical precision;
Where police cell walls attract and break skulls, damage spinal cords, slit carotid arteries, and constrict respiratory function;
Where the Executive speaks for Parliament and Judiciary, and its word is law…
One man broke the record, defied the Maestro, and sang a different tune, to the shock of the audience, and much to the chagrin of the orchestra.
For daring to give a true report on the murder of a poor man’s son, in total disregard of their script, we salute you, Bernard Owino Midia.
Hongera.
For giving Kenya hope, that truth and justice can, indeed, be our shield and defender, we say, shukran.
For giving life to the morals that define our existence and structure the fibre of our being, we pray grace to your profession. Baraka tele!
May your single action right the many wrongs littered in the history of government reporting of this country, and give courage to zillions more after you.
We can sing a new song, after all; we can train our bodies to move to its rhythm.
We can rewrite our history.
Here’s to a new beginning, Kenya.
Here to truth, justice, and fidelity to the morals that weave our being into reality.
*We raise a glass to our national hero, Benard Owino Midia.*
