Peter Ng'etich And Bernard Kwalia
19 May 2008
Nairobi — The military lay in wait for three days deep in Mt Elgon Forest before they gunned down self-declared Sabaot Land Defence Forces (SLDF) commander Wycliffe Komol Matwakei.
The officers started forming a ring of about 300 metres round Mlango Nane cave on Wednesday last week in Emia location as they monitored the rebel's movements.
On Friday, after confirming that the cave was indeed Matwakei's hideout, the officers tightened the ring.
On realising that his group had been cornered, Matwakei's bodyguard Isaac Chepkui fired at the officers who returned fire and shot him in the stomach.
Matwakei, who was in the cave, exchanged fire with the officers for about 45 minutes as he tried to find an escape route.
Eventually, one of his trusted commanders, Bernard Cheren, was shot in the head and chest.
Matwakei was the third to be felled after he was shot in the throat, stomach and armpit.
When a fourth rebel, Cosmas Kimutai went down, the others lost heart and fled through the tunnels of the many caves which lead in and out of Mlango Nane.
By Sunday, four had surrendered to the army at Kapkoto military base.
The success of the military operation is said to have been capped by the surrender later of five rebels who are reported to have been close to Matwakei.
Their names are being kept a secret by the military for security reasons.
Raid village
Matwakei and his close associates are reported to have run out of food in the cave, forcing them to raid the nearby Cheptaburbur village.
Cheren's body was found with a tin of honey which they seemed to have been surviving on.
Other reports say that the group had started eating rats and other animals they could find in the forest.
When Matwakei first granted the Nation an interview, he did not say much but looked the picture of health.
But on viewing his body on Saturday, he looked terribly emaciated.
Matwakei's wife, Salome Chepkemoi Ndiwa, 28, who was among relatives who identified the self-proclaimed commander, said her husband fled two days before "Operation Okoa Maisha" (Operation Save A Life) kicked off on March 10.
She said she tried to persuade her husband to surrender but he became so angry that he threatened to kill her, forcing her to flee from the matrimonial home.
"I tried to persuade him to surrender but he looked at me with red eyes, which usually indicates that something might go wrong, forcing me to flee with our five children," she said.
Industrious man
Salome said her husband was an industrious man before their family's land was cut from 200 to 10 acres in 2003.
A victim of SLDF torture, Chemachar Chenge who had sought refuge in Bungoma said Matwakei's death was a big relief and he was ready to return home.
"I am happy that Matwakei is down and the operation should continue until all SLDF remnants are wiped out," Mr Chenge said.
But some area residents were not happy. One of the residents said peace will not return in the district until fair land allocation is done out in phase III farm of Chebyuk Settlement Scheme.
"We hare not happy with the way the army has tortured people to death and the killing of SLDF suspects instead of arresting them. The land issue in Chebyuk has to be solved before we accept peace," the resident said.
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