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War veterans mark Remembrance Day


Dressed in full military regalia, Private Bugi Mwita was one of the war veterans who braved the Sunday morning chill to commemorate his fellow soldiers who died in the first and second world wars.

Mr Mwita, 88, travelled from Kuria to honour his comrades who fell in the battle fields.

Kenyan soldiers served as part of Britain’s Kings African Rifles (KAR) during the Second World War.

Most were deployed to fight against Italians in Ethiopia and Somalia. Others were shipped to Burma (Myanmar) to fight  the Japanese.

44, 500 Kenyan soldiers died in the war.

Veterans

British High Commissioner Christian Turner led the commemoration of Sunday morning where the veterans laid wreaths at the war memorial monuments along Kenyatta Avenue.

The monuments consist of a 3-metre high obelisk pillar on one side of Kenyatta avenue, and a granite sculpture of three armed black askaris across the road.

The monuments are a commemoration of Kenyan soldiers, recruited as askaris, who participated in the Great War (1914-1918) and the Second World War (1939-1945).

Remembrance Day

“We will always remember those who lost their lives to valiantly defend the world from those who wanted to overrun it and deny everyone their freedom,” said Mr Turner.

November 11 (Remembrance Day) is observed across the Commonwealth since 1918 to remember those who lost their lives in the battlefield.