Daughter of slain Shifta war-era senior chief seeks compensation
Ms Hadija Haji Galma, 72, daughter of Isiolo colonial-era senior chief Haji Wario Dido who was killed during the Shifta war in the then Northern Frontier District. She is appealing to President Uhuru Kenyatta to help her family get compensation for her father’s killing.
The daughter of Isiolo’s colonial era senior chief Haji Galma Dido, who was killed during the Shifta war in June 1963, wants President Uhuru Kenyatta to help the family get justice.
The chief was killed in the line of duty with the first Isiolo district commissioner, Mr David Dabaso Wabera, on their way to Sericho to urge locals not to support secessionists and help survey a disputed piece of land.
Hadija Haji Galma, 72, said efforts to get her father’s pension and compensation from the Kenyan and British governments have failed.
“We have been to several government offices in Nairobi and Isiolo but have never been helped in any way,” Ms Hadija said, adding that their search for justice has taken more than a decade.
Languished in poverty
The septuagenarian said the family, following the death of the patriarch, languished in poverty and struggles to make ends meet.
Ms Galma said Mr Dido had four wives and about 20 children who relied on him.
“Life changed for the worse after his death. We have never been compensated or assisted in any way by the government,” she said.
She asked President Kenyatta to look into the issue and help get the family out of poverty.
The Shifta war of 1963 to 1967 saw ethnic Somalis in the then Northern Frontier District attempt to secede from Kenya to join Somalia.
