Events
Koigi Wamwere Shaves his Dreadlocks
On this day in 2003, history was literally shaved away in Bahati. At the Jomo Kenyatta High School grounds, a massive crowd gathered to witness Koigi wa Wamwere finally cut the dreadlocks he had grown since 1991. Koigi was then the MP-elect for Subukia under the Kibaki-led NARC party.
He started growing his dreadlocks while in detention and vowed to shave only after President Moi came out of power.
The choice of venue was poignant; named after the President who first detained him, the school became the stage for Koigi’s final act of defiance against the KANU era. After thirteen years of swearing they would only fall when Moi left power, the “symbol of resistance” was removed by a local barber. As the locks fell, Nakuru celebrated the literal and symbolic liberation of a Kenyan hero.
