Former Kenya Air Force officers detained after the 1982 attempted coup are still waiting for the government to honour court orders awarding them up to Sh9 billion in compensation.
Safina party leader Jimmy Wanjigi has now called on the government to pay the former officers and their families, saying they have waited for justice for decades.
Wanjigi said the officers had already gone through the courts and should not continue suffering after securing favourable rulings.
He pledged that if elected president, his government would pay the Sh9 billion within its first three months in office.
“I want to commit today that my government, the Safina government, will ensure this payment of Sh9 billion is done. And this will be done within the first three months,” Wanjigi said.
The former officers were arrested and detained following the failed coup attempt. They maintain that they did not participate in or organise the mutiny.
A retired Air Force commander, Bernard Njoroge, said the officers were detained for periods ranging from 11 months to several years before seeking redress through the courts.
“We are people who have gone through a lot of tribulations. We were arrested in 1982, all of us detained for periods from 11 months to years,” Njoroge said.
Njoroge said the officers were cleared through the courts, including the Supreme Court, and awarded various amounts that have not been paid.
He said many of the former officers had since died, leaving behind widows and dependants who were still waiting for compensation.
“Many of us passed on. We have their dependants here. We have widows with us here,” he said.
Safina deputy party leader Willis Otieno said the court orders went beyond compensation, directing the government to recognise the former officers as Kenya Defence Forces personnel and retire them with the benefits attached to their positions.
He accused successive governments of ignoring the orders.
“It is important that a country respects the rule of law,” Otieno said.
He said government officials were constitutionally required to comply with court orders and could not treat them as recommendations.
“It is not a suggestion to the PS Defence to obey court orders. It is not a suggestion to the National Security Council to obey court orders. It is a command by the Constitution and the courts that they must obey those court orders,” Otieno said.
Otieno also claimed that the Principal Secretary for Defence, Patrick Mariru, had been found in contempt of court over failure to comply with orders relating to the former officers.
He affirmed that Safina would work with the former officers and their families to ensure the court decisions were implemented.
Wanjigi criticised President William Ruto's administration over the continued delay in settling the claims.
He said some of the former officers had spent years in detention without trial and that it was wrong for the state to ignore their plight after they had obtained court victories.
“William Ruto, you keep exposing yourself. This is another one of those exposures,” Wanjigi said.
The former officers are now seeking the implementation of the court orders and payment of the compensation awarded to them.
Wanjigi said the Sh9 billion award would be settled within three months if he wins the presidency in 2027.
