Kenyans Launch #147isNotaNumber to Remember Garissa Victims

The hash tag was launched a few hours after Interior Cabinet secretary Joseph Nkaissery revealed that the siege at Garissa University had ended at the cost of 147 lives of students, staff and security officers and four suspected terrorists.

Kenyans online joined the families in mourning their dead with the assertion that their loved ones were not just a statistic but real human beings with real stories and families that loved them.

The hash tag has encouraged people to share stories and pictures of their loved ones who perished in the attack.

WHO THEY WERE

Veronica Syokau for example was a second-year student at the University from Kitui County. She loved swimming. She died on that day.

Nineteen year-old Alex was an only child his parents had invested their hopes in him. He is no more.

Friends would post a blurry photo of Doreen Special Rose, the name they gave Gakii, but their memories were sharp, the pain of losing her too raw.

Angela Kimatwa, whose friends had nicknamed Kajojo, studied at Karima Girls’ High School. She too died in a hail of bullets.

And the shootings did not only claim students. Security officers too; Solomon Oludo was an Administration Police officer, he was struck down in the line of duty.

The messages and pictures pouring in throughout the day online with each tribute helping to put a face to the victims, painting a picture of who they were.

LAST MESSAGES

Those who couldn’t find pictures would rely on messages. Kamau Ngatia’s brother sent him a message during the attack asking for prayers when the university came under attack.

Chege Kimotho’s brother told him he had gone into hiding-the message in Swahili read “mum aki tumeshikwa na al shabaab. Just pray for me. I love you all very much. You are everything in my life.”

These are just some of the last moments captured for the victims in the Garissa attack in the hash tag #147NotJustANumber.

Today being  the last day of National mourning, family members and friends are set to hold a vigil for those who lost their lives coming together to mourn the deaths of persons with talents and flaws, hopes and ambitions; their lives cut short before they could attain their dreams.

But they remain forever alive in the memories of those who loved them the. May their souls rest in peace

By Tom Omulo.