A section of residents from Gatuta village in Kitutu Masaba now want the government to erect a monument in honour of the late George Anyona.
Mr Anyona who served the region for 15 years in Parliament, was a victim of arbitrary arrests and detentions under the regimes of former presidents Jomo Kenyatta and Daniel Moi.
He played a major role towards the realisation of multiparty democracy in the country before his death in a car accident in Nairobi in 2003.
But Anyona’s village-mates now want the government to honour the multiparty democracy hero by erecting a monument in his rural home in Gatuta to serve as a historical site.
“Anyona was our hero and he lived to protect the interests of the poor in society. He concentrated on fighting for national issues and as a result died poor because of his philosophy of working with the less privileged in society,” said John Moi.
“The government should erect a monument in his remembrance because he represents the freedom that we enjoy today. He is somebody worthy to be remembered,” Moi added.
He also challenged the government to honour residents by compensating them given the ‘torture’ they underwent during Anyona’s era as MP.
“We never had peace of mind because CID officers were always in this village to monitor his movement. They sometimes arrested us when we went to the streets to demand for his release. Some of us were beaten up because we stood with him. Time has come for us to be compensated,” he added.
They also urged the county government of Nyamira to establish a health centre and name it after Mr Anyona since the region has no hospital.