My Dear Sister, Back to Sheffield and the Commonwealth Law Conference

Celebrating Success

I have heard many blessings in my life! Today I speak of my sister’s birthday which was yesterday on Oct 1^st. My own birthday is today, 3^rd October. This means that on every 2^nd day of October, my dear sister and I are exactly the same age. I also wish to talk about my appearance at the Commonwealth Law Conference (2007) where I spoke to the world on the Darfur conflict.

But first, I should report that I am now back in Sheffield and now in my final year of PhD. It is a strenuous exercise, sometime a familiar journey into the unknown. It’s full of trials and challenges. Nevertheless, I am in great shape and look to the day that I will successfully defend my thesis. While that will mark the end of my studies here in Sheffield, it will form the beginning of a new chapter. I will go out to the world, well equipped to fulfil my destiny.

Franciska Wanja is my sister and she studies in Malaysia. Our birthdays are literally one day apart and only 12 months separate us. Nature has its own way of doing things and it is fascinating to look forward to that one day that we are exactly the same age. It only happens once in a year!! Our birthdays remind us how young we used to be and the dreams we have shared over the years.

Wanja is named after my grandmother, my dad’s mother. I recall when I was young, my big brother and I made it a duty to go sit alongside grandmother’s fire place. She would make very hot tea and would remove the red-hot cooking pan with her bare hands. No one dared sit on her sit. She had a pipe which my brother and I used to blow in order to keep the fire alight. She would tell us stories of grandfather and the days that the Mau Mau rebellion took place. My grandfather was a freedom fighter; he fought the British and upheld the dignity of the African. It reminds me of my thesis which in many ways does the same. They fought with arms, we fight with our minds!

Wanja in many ways represents a commitment and duty to mankind. She is very caring, will always have your back, she is very strong and courageous. She brightened my world during my many dark days. She stands out, in a family of eight siblings, as a dedicated daughter, sister and friend. Wanja is very special to me and always will be and I look to working with her in the near future. Happy birthday and God bless!!

She also remembered to wish me the very best in my address to the Commonwealth Law Conference that brought together over 2000 lawyers from around the world. This was a landmark and definitely a first for me. For the very first time, the prestigious conference was held in African since 1980.And for Nairobi, the city stood out as the best place to hold the conference. For me, it was going back home and using my country as a platform to address the issues that concern many voiceless people in Darfur and Africa.

I told the world that indeed, despite the notable efforts, things remained the same. In the aftermath of the Rwandan Genocide, the peoples of Africa continue to suffer while the international community stands in a mixture of murmurs and silence. The United Nations, the African Union, the Commonwealth need to do more for the people in Darfur. I cannot emphasise this as I have elsewhere but I was happy to hear people, including distinguished persons asking how they can help. I was happy to speak at the conference, and most of all happy to pay tribute to the presence of my own father who was part of the audience. Today I am humbled by my sister’s grace and the light that she sheds on our family and the world. That I spoke alongside the world’s leading lawyers has definitely left a distinct mark in my life. Indeed there is more to come!!