Desperation made me heckle, says man who interrupted Moi funeral service
The man who was hauled out of retired president Daniel Moi’s funeral service at Nyayo Stadium on Tuesday after he attempted to disrupt the ceremony has blamed desperation for his bold move.
Thirty-year-old Daniel Wekesa Nalyanya made media headlines when he “heckled” as senator Gideon Moi was giving his speech promting security agents to spring into action and gagged him before hauling him out of the stadium.
“Rais wangu Uhuru, kuna jambo nataka kukuambia,” Wekesa stood abruptly, and uttered the words, raising alarm forcing the president’s security guards to act swiftly.
The father-of-two said he attempted to free himself so that he could put his message across but five well-built guards, however, managed to lift him up high and ejected him from the venue.
The jobless Wekesa who lives in Mlolongo in Machakos County claimed he was roughed up after being taken out of Nyayo Stadium, but not to the extent people speculated he would be.
“The security officers only punched me in the face and scratched my face using their nails,” he said.
He was detained at Nyayo Stadium holding cells until 1pm, when he was released.
“On that day, I had told myself ‘I will do everything to catch the president’s attention, even if it means losing my life while attempting to do that’ I was prepared to die; seeing Uhuru was my only aim.”
It is not the first time that Wekesa has attempted to get the president’s attention.
“I wanted to tell the president that I have tried on three occasions to catch his attention to no avail. I had, previously, tried accessing State House-Nairobi, but I was stopped at the gate by GSU officers manning the residence,” said Wekesa.
He narrated how he left his Mlolongo home on Monday at 7pm and arrived at Nyayo Stadium at 10pm after covering the 27 kilometers’ distance on foot.
“I had for long planned to meet the president, upon arriving at Nyayo at 10pm Monday, the security officers told me no one would be allowed in until 3am the following day when the gates would be opened for the public,” he added.
Wekesa holds a certificate in automotive engineering from a technical college in Nairobi and says after completing his education in 2015, he has struggled to get employment.
“I currently do menial jobs, including trimming people’s flower beds in Syokimau to fend for my family.”
He intimated he had also studied a course in driving heavy commercial vehicles, but the job opportunity he wishes the president could give him is work in the military.
He lives with his wife and their two daughters aged 3 and 1.