Ghosts of Wagalla Massacre linger as Wajir hosts Madaraka Day fete

Wajir County will host this year’s Madaraka Day celebrations, marking the first time the national event has been held in the North Eastern region.

The event will also showcase new and ongoing investments, including the refurbishment of the Wajir military and civilian airport, commissioned by President Mwai Kibaki two decades ago, as well as roads and other amenities aimed at deepening connectivity and integration between the region and the rest of the country.

The symbolism of hosting Madaraka Day in Wajir carries significant historical and cultural weight. It reflects efforts to craft and project a new narrative centred on modernisation, infrastructure development and enhanced connectivity, replacing long-held perceptions of banditry, insecurity and marginalisation.

The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) projected Wajir’s population to reach 915,139 in 2025, with the urban population of Wajir Town estimated at 120,000. The town now hosts the 63rd Madaraka Day anniversary since Kenya attained internal self-government on June 1, 1963.

Historically, the story of Wajir has been shaped largely by two clans — the Ajuran of Wajir North and the Degodia of Wajir West — whose rivalry has often cast the region in an unfavourable light, most notably through the infamous Wagalla Massacre of February 1984.

The Ajuran are predominantly domiciled in Wajir North, although they historically laid claim to vast areas now inhabited by the Degodia, who are concentrated in Wajir West.

Both communities are ethnic Somalis and predominantly adherents of the Islamic faith.

However, tensions over access to and control of pasture, water points and political influence fuelled violent conflicts that resulted in the deaths of many Ajuran clan members at the hands of their Degodia rivals in the early 1980s, prompting government intervention to restore order.

A military and police operation launched in 1984 to disarm the two communities turned tragic. While the Ajuran reportedly complied with orders to surrender firearms held by civilians, the Degodia were said to have resisted.

The inter-clan conflict, which dated back to the post-Independence Shifta War era, had been worsened by instability in neighbouring Ethiopia and Somalia, leading to an influx of illegal weapons and armed bandits across the border.

According to submissions presented during the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC) hearings 15 years ago, the government deployed military, police and General Service Unit (GSU) officers to forcibly disarm the Degodia after they failed to comply with an ultimatum to surrender illegal firearms.

Following the killing of a District Officer and several civil servants by bandits in early 1984, the North Eastern Provincial Security Committee launched an operation that rounded up thousands of men from the Degodia clan and detained them at Wagalla Airstrip for several days of interrogation.

“Between February 10 and 14, 1984, heavily armed security officers descended on the quiet Wajir area ostensibly to mop up guns illegally held by locals. They rounded up Somali men of the Degodia clan from their homes in the early hours of February 10. They held them at the local airstrip for four days without food or water. On the third day, the effects of hunger and dehydration had begun taking their toll on the naked men lined up with their heads bowed along the Wagalla airstrip,” states a report by the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC). 

The KHRC report further states that on the third day of detention, torture, starvation and thirst, some men attempted to escape.

“They took to their heels towards the barbed-wire fence with the last hope of saving their lives. The security officers opened fire on them. Twenty-four hours later, hundreds of men lay dead, their bullet-riddled bodies scattered across the airstrip and in the surrounding bush,” the report states.

The TJRC report, released in 2013, documented the names of 482 victims who were killed on February 14, 1984, from gunshot wounds.

The incident became a major scandal both locally and internationally and remains a symbol of historical injustice for many residents, who cite it as evidence of marginalisation and state oppression that requires redress and assurances that such atrocities will never recur.

No one has ever been held accountable for the horrors of the Wagalla Massacre, leaving victims and their families without closure or justice.

The most significant progress made on the issue has been the official documentation of events during the TJRC hearings, culminating in the commission’s report released in May 2013.

The report recorded the names of victims, testimonies from surviving state actors and recommendations for further investigations, prosecution of those responsible and implementation of restorative justice measures to restore dignity to affected families and communities.

Although President Uhuru Kenyatta announced a Sh10 billion Restorative Justice Fund for victims of state-inflicted historical injustices in 2015, little progress has been made in developing the legal and regulatory framework needed to implement the pledge.

As this year’s Madaraka Day celebrations shine a national spotlight on Wajir, and as political leaders and government officials showcase infrastructure projects as evidence of a modernising and evolving region, many believe the occasion should also serve as a reminder of the need to bring the Wagalla Massacre to a dignified conclusion.

For survivors and the families of victims, meaningful closure remains one of the most important milestones on Wajir’s journey towards healing, reconciliation and national integration.