LIFE IN MAGADI FIELD TRAINING CAMP.

Time to leave GSU training School and proceed to Magadi fileld training Camp was now a reality.

In this blog, i will just give a tip of the iceberg of what everything was all about considering that much of this must not be available for public consumption....!

In GSU training school, there was a driver by the name Kanyari who was no joke on the wheel. On the day that we left to Magadi, we were on board a Mercedes Benz truck that was being driven by this dude. Notoriously known for terrible speed driving, he took us to Magadi and most of us being new around these environs, all we could do was to enjoy the ride.

Here we were......

We arrived safely at Magadi Gsu Training Camp, a ground of our own choice as commonly refered to by the instructors. A place of scorching sun, rocky terrain and that which the ground surface is full of thorns commonly known as Ngoja Ngoja. This was a new home for us for some months to come and from the look of everything; it was not a friendly place to be in! There was a notorious mountain known as Mt Wambua, another one called RT, a place called white patch among other prominent features which was all what we were introduced to during orientation.  

At the back ground is the famous RT....

Look at the sun rays and the terrain too...

 Welcome to serious training grounds........

A normal day would start with us leaving the camp very early in the morning for the road run. This was to a place called Kamukuru past the famous white patch. This was no joke as recruits could ‘sleep run’ and even ‘crush land’ in sleep and get hurt. This was not a reason to stay away from training as there was a famous saying over there.’Kazi na dawa’. Training was a must even if it meant being take to classes on a wheel chair!

After the road run, we would next head to have our breakfast, later get into our military uniform in readiness for Inspection and then start the days training which was the beginning of a sweat full day. We would take our parade drills commonly known as master parade and then in a jungle green shirt, a smoke jacket and a  sisal made sack on top of these in the name of camouflage and concealment, one could not put down any of these till we were done with that day’s training. One could sweat, stink and even get uncomfortable but soldiers are known to be ‘Hard” men and Women, we endured.

Check the photo below......

Field craft theory lessons would follow and were done while we were seated on Hot rocks and under the scorching sun.The photo below clearly shows what our classes were like. Here is squad seventeen seated in a place that resembles what our classes looked like.

 Check it out......

 Despite the hot sun rays, we could still afford to take a quick nap but wait a minute, if one was caught napping he/she would curse the day he was born. One could be beaten and forced to go up Mt Wambua with a Jerry can full of water or a basin full of water without it spilling down and also with  a G3 rifle. One person, all this paraphernalia and up till to the Mountain top, fire several blanks and then start coming down! No one could dare be caught in the again. One day i was caught up, look at that attire which is inclusive of all the ones in the photo above plus the ground sheet....

We would later go for practical lessons in the afternoon where the sun was simply unbearable but for soldiers, we were kept alive by a saying that says ‘Train hard fight Easy’. Instructors namely War Lord, Mr Nyongesa, Pc Ndege, Sgt Mang’era, Cpl Galgaro, Pc Mwaria who would force us to point the ground using our finger, go round till one lost control and fell down like a sack of potatoes all in the name of hardening and punishment were the notable gurus in this field. These amongst others were a no non sense lot in the field of field craft and minor tactics lessons. There was a ruthless lady instructor be the name PC/W Mbatha who was also not a joker in this filed. She used to deal with the lady recruits ruthlessly without caring on gender which was also something to note and appreciate too. They never gave us a break. Some recruits fainted, others got injured, broke their legs and hands but this did not mean an end to the training but was interpreted to mean that we were still ‘softies’ that needed more ‘hardening’ hence the training got tougher and harder. It is worthy to appreciate that these Instructors have risen above ranks and hence may hold higher ranks currently than was the case.

Check this out, Obstacle crossing......

Using a panga and a mess tin, one was suppossed to dig up a trench slightly deep above his height....!

This would end some minutes to six where we would proceed for super in readiness for evening cleaning and mock attack drills called ‘Stand two’ lessons where we were to be gauged on the response levels in case the camp was attacked. Lights could go off and in less than five minutes, one was expected to be in full uniform and to have rushed to respective and designated kip areas in readiness to defend a camp on attack. Anyone caught un aware and napping would earn himself or herself thorough beating and punishment and to avoid this, most of us were always on toes and ready for the worst. A night did not mean time to sleep but time to rest awaiting the following day training schedule.

Come the following day, much of the program could alternate hence when not doing field craft and drills, were at the shooting range. Life here was no better and this made one of my worst places in the whole training exercise. As we were being taught on how to fire and operate various types of rifles, I was practically unable to get enough rounds using an AK47 rifle to the target which saw me being beaten and pinched until I dared one of the Instructors to touch me one more time and I would go straight home. Luckily, he had mercy on me and left me alone.

Our faces got swollen due to the blow back effect when firing but this was no reason to evade training. We were doing it in that state of pain and agony. After all, we were told that we refused to listen to our parents and here we were to the world (GSU instructors) now being taught which was to tell us of the famous Swahili saying that says ‘Asiyefunzwa na mamaye hufunzwa na ulimwengu’. This was enough reason to be beaten up, pinched and teased right, left and center.From here, we were later trained on how to use mortars, bombs, Grenades, machine guns and other heavy weaponry, night firing among other valuable lessons that were in our curriculum.I do remember that most of recruits almost lost it here. Things were so tough. One could eat even two to three loaves of bread at a go plus several litres of youghurt even after having had a lot of ugali. 

One gentle man from my village known as Martin who was heavily built almost escaped from here. He confided to me that he was done with the harassment and tough workload and was ready to try something else outside life in the Police service. I just told him to look at himself, then look at me and compare his body mass and mine and then let the weakest leave first and that was me! The weakest happened to me and I told him that I would never give up despite the training taking toll on me. I also advised him to take every day at a time and forget that which took place yesterday and face the new day with much optimism and courage. This was my motto and am glad it worked for him and me too. This training was not for the faint hearted and required one not to accumulate anger and grudge as this would simply lead to us losing the battle. Am glad that he changed and became more positive to face the uncertain future.

Another very notable case was that of a recruit by the name Andy Joseph who threatened to use his connections to leak information to the Human rights commission on the ‘torture’ that we were going through and un lucky him, he got a beating of a life time from the instructors which cowed us to a point that no one could raise an issues irrespective of how things got tough! This was a manifestation of how things were over here.

We cleared our training over here hence left Magadi to Embakasi and then granted a mid course break to visit our families. At this time, we were told that we were almost 'ripe' and in case the government needed emergency re enforcements, we were good to go!