Jack Roberts
New Lister
The date was February 10, 1985. The setting was the University of Nairobi (UoN), a prestigious institution in Kenya's capital, but also a simmering center of dissent against the authoritarian government of President Daniel Arap Moi.
President Moi, who held the powerful position of Chancellor for all public universities, was scheduled to attend a grand graduation ceremony for the National Youth Service (NYS) trainees. The event was meant to showcase national unity and, perhaps, the success of the government’s efforts to instill loyalty in the students through the compulsory NYS program.
But the students had other plans.
The Chairman of the Student Organisation of Nairobi University (SONU), Mwandawiro Mghanga, had emerged as a potent symbol of student resistance. Just five days earlier, Mghanga and three colleagues had been summarily expelled, a move that only galvanized the student body. They responded by boycotting classes, demanding their leader's reinstatement, and preparing a spectacular act of defiance.
While the parade grounds were lined with officers from the General Service Unit (GSU), the Kenya Army, Navy, and Air Force, waiting for the President to inspect them, Mwandawiro Mghanga was gathering his own force on the football pitch.
The students, including the first batch of NYS graduates in their uniforms, organized a counter-ceremony: a Student Guard of Honour. In a powerful and deeply symbolic move challenging the very authority of the state, Mghanga, the expelled SONU Chairman, was set to inspect this guard—mimicking the President's own official state ceremony.
As Mghanga stepped forward to inspect the guard, the ceremony of resistance was abruptly shattered. Before President Moi’s motorcade even arrived, GSU and Special Branch police descended upon the students. Mwandawiro Mghanga was violently arrested on charges of “sedition against the lawfully elected government.”
The resulting chaos was tragic. A stampede broke out as students scattered, and in the confusion, a student named Joseph Wandera was killed, and over 50 others were injured. The price of protest had been paid in blood.
Mghanga's ordeal was only beginning. He was taken to Buru Buru police station, where he endured physical abuse, starvation, and psychological torture. Prosecuted by Bernard Chunga under the guidance of Attorney General Matthew Guy Muli, Mghanga was sentenced to one year in the notorious Kamiti Maximum Prison.
Mghanga's commitment to political change was unwavering. Shortly after serving his first sentence, he was arrested again on April 3, 1986, this time for alleged association with the underground movement known as Mwakenya.
This arrest brought him face-to-face with the darkest heart of the regime: the torture chambers of Nyayo House. Here, Mghanga was subjected to horrific torture—beatings, being forced to do naked press-ups, and being held in waterlogged cells for extended periods. Once again charged with sedition, he was sentenced to an even harsher term of five years in prison, serving time in both Kamiti and Kibos Maximum Security Prisons.
Upon his eventual release, Mwandawiro Mghanga was forced to flee the country, seeking refuge in Sweden as a political refugee. But exile did not stop his pursuit of knowledge. He transformed his time abroad into a period of academic excellence, earning a master’s degree from Stockholm University and a second master’s in agricultural sciences from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences.
With the eventual end of the KANU regime's one-party rule, Hon. Mghanga returned home. His spirit of public service was undiminished. He ran for and won the Wundanyi parliamentary seat, serving as a Member of Parliament from 2002 to 2007. His dedication to policy and debate was formally recognized by the Speaker, who honored him as the top contributor on the floor of the house.
Decades after his unlawful imprisonment and torture, justice finally arrived. In January 2016, the High Court of Kenya awarded him Ksh. 10 million in compensation for his unlawful detention and suffering in the Nyayo House torture chambers.
Hon. Julius Mwandawiro Mghanga's life story is a testament to the enduring fight for democracy and human rights in Kenya—a tale of an unbowed leader who moved from the trenches of student activism and the hell of prison to the halls of Parliament.
President Moi, who held the powerful position of Chancellor for all public universities, was scheduled to attend a grand graduation ceremony for the National Youth Service (NYS) trainees. The event was meant to showcase national unity and, perhaps, the success of the government’s efforts to instill loyalty in the students through the compulsory NYS program.
But the students had other plans.
The Guard of Honour of Defiance
The Chairman of the Student Organisation of Nairobi University (SONU), Mwandawiro Mghanga, had emerged as a potent symbol of student resistance. Just five days earlier, Mghanga and three colleagues had been summarily expelled, a move that only galvanized the student body. They responded by boycotting classes, demanding their leader's reinstatement, and preparing a spectacular act of defiance.
While the parade grounds were lined with officers from the General Service Unit (GSU), the Kenya Army, Navy, and Air Force, waiting for the President to inspect them, Mwandawiro Mghanga was gathering his own force on the football pitch.
The students, including the first batch of NYS graduates in their uniforms, organized a counter-ceremony: a Student Guard of Honour. In a powerful and deeply symbolic move challenging the very authority of the state, Mghanga, the expelled SONU Chairman, was set to inspect this guard—mimicking the President's own official state ceremony.
Arrest and the Cost of Resistance
As Mghanga stepped forward to inspect the guard, the ceremony of resistance was abruptly shattered. Before President Moi’s motorcade even arrived, GSU and Special Branch police descended upon the students. Mwandawiro Mghanga was violently arrested on charges of “sedition against the lawfully elected government.”
The resulting chaos was tragic. A stampede broke out as students scattered, and in the confusion, a student named Joseph Wandera was killed, and over 50 others were injured. The price of protest had been paid in blood.
Mghanga's ordeal was only beginning. He was taken to Buru Buru police station, where he endured physical abuse, starvation, and psychological torture. Prosecuted by Bernard Chunga under the guidance of Attorney General Matthew Guy Muli, Mghanga was sentenced to one year in the notorious Kamiti Maximum Prison.
The Second Imprisonment and Nyayo House
Mghanga's commitment to political change was unwavering. Shortly after serving his first sentence, he was arrested again on April 3, 1986, this time for alleged association with the underground movement known as Mwakenya.
This arrest brought him face-to-face with the darkest heart of the regime: the torture chambers of Nyayo House. Here, Mghanga was subjected to horrific torture—beatings, being forced to do naked press-ups, and being held in waterlogged cells for extended periods. Once again charged with sedition, he was sentenced to an even harsher term of five years in prison, serving time in both Kamiti and Kibos Maximum Security Prisons.
Exile, Education, and Return
Upon his eventual release, Mwandawiro Mghanga was forced to flee the country, seeking refuge in Sweden as a political refugee. But exile did not stop his pursuit of knowledge. He transformed his time abroad into a period of academic excellence, earning a master’s degree from Stockholm University and a second master’s in agricultural sciences from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences.
With the eventual end of the KANU regime's one-party rule, Hon. Mghanga returned home. His spirit of public service was undiminished. He ran for and won the Wundanyi parliamentary seat, serving as a Member of Parliament from 2002 to 2007. His dedication to policy and debate was formally recognized by the Speaker, who honored him as the top contributor on the floor of the house.
Decades after his unlawful imprisonment and torture, justice finally arrived. In January 2016, the High Court of Kenya awarded him Ksh. 10 million in compensation for his unlawful detention and suffering in the Nyayo House torture chambers.
Hon. Julius Mwandawiro Mghanga's life story is a testament to the enduring fight for democracy and human rights in Kenya—a tale of an unbowed leader who moved from the trenches of student activism and the hell of prison to the halls of Parliament.