Mr Gitu Wa Kahengeri, a Kenyan war veteran who fought the oppressive British colonial rule during the Mau Mau uprising has asked individuals who survived the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebels brutality to forgive their tormentors.
The 96-year-old says no one should ignore the power of forgiveness if they have to move forward after going through a difficult time.
Speaking during a launch of a book on forgiveness at the Refugee Law Project (RLP) offices in Gulu town on Friday, Wa Kahengeri said, “There is no amount of anger that one can use to bring back a dead brother to life.”
Wa Kahengeri, medical doctor by profession says despite the brutality, he has forgiven the British men who raped their women and forced others out of their own land.
He adds that even the British agents in his village who did not only force families out of their own land and stole animals but also committed mass atrocities are now living peacefully.
“If you don’t forgive, you will regret when you are older like me. Now you have an opportunity to lay a foundation build on peace,” says veteran.
He noted that the best a survivor can do is to learn to live with those who offended them and remind them that what they did was wrong.
Wa Kahengeri who now serves as a Secretary General of Mau Mau veterans reminded the survivors that those who offended them are not going anywhere but they can live in peace for the benefit of all after years of evil deeds if they sacrifice and make forgiveness practical.
“Those who offended us must remember that they did a wrong thing that made us angry but we have to forgive so that they also realize that they will not continue to do bad things,” adds the elderly former Mau Mau fighter.
Wa Kahengeri was jailed alongside his father Kahengeri wa Gitu for seven years Lamu for resisting British colonial masters prior to the Kenya’s independence.
Prof. Daniel Philpott, one of the authors of the book titled ‘Forgiveness: unveiling an Asset for Peacebuilding,’ noted that forgiveness is a healing act that sets a victim free.
Philpoot, a professor at the Center for Civil and Human Rights at the University of Notre Dame, expert on International Peace Studies explained that forgiveness is not giving up on justice, accountability, reparation or apology but it is when someone starts a new life by overcoming the bitterness of the past circumstances.
According to Philpoot, if one holds anger for long, it will erode him from inside and eventually he will get destroyed like a container carrying acid inside it.
Prof Emilio Ovuga, the Dean Faculty of Medicine at Gulu University explained that willingness to exercise forgiveness is a moral obligation that one needs not to ignore adding that it is power on one’s emotional and spiritual wellbeing.
Ovuga, a professor of psychiatry and Mental Health says forgiveness is about setting yourself free and you can do that by releasing the past so it no longer has control over your thoughts or the way you feel.
