Today, January 15, 2020, marks exactly one year since a gang of armed militia rained terror on the DusitD2 hotel complex in Nairobi killing 21 people and seriously injuring many others. The dark memories still hang on a year later.
Kenyans’ resilience, however, stands tall as one strolls through the complex as it is evident enough that normalcy has resumed. Operations at the offices, restaurants and designated social joints continue rolling as if nothing happened.
Survivors and relatives of victims of the deadly attack, nonetheless, continue to wallow in the anguish of memories of that ill-fated day. David Onyango considers himself lucky to be alive today after narrowly escaping the jaws of death during the attack. “It is hard to believe that I’m alive and talking to you today”, he starts as soon as we sit down to have a chat with him. He painfully recalls the sequence of events; an elaborate account of all that transpired and describes the whole experience as ‘nerve-cracking’.
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“At the most, you go a day or two without thinking about it. Sometimes I look outside and see where one suicide bomber blew himself up and all of a sudden it’s as if I am transported back to that moment.” Onyango laments.
The continued terror raids elicit anger emotions among people like Onyango, and they continue hoping that the security apparatus in the country will wake up from their laxity and put primary focus on protecting innocent lives by thwarting such sickening occurrences. Some have vowed never to set foot at the compound again.
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