Nicholas Langat, second from left with President Uhuru Kenyatta at a past function.
They must complete extensive training before being allowed to work at the state House or on presidential details. After applicants are accepted and complete many months of training, only the best agents are accepted for this top security duty.
From Jumping out of airplanes, swinging from ropes on helicopters, throwing grenades, shooting M-60 machine guns and M-203 grenade launchers and many others are what body gourds to protect the president have to go through.
But how does a soft spoken officer, who first joined the nation’s security agency in 2012 as a General Service Unit (GSU) officer, fall from grace?
A highly trained Recce squad officer attached to President Uhuru Kenyatta’s security detail has now turned to crushing stones at a quarry in Kericho in order to sustain his life.
Langat, 28, was suspended in 2016 after he failed to report back on duty in time when he went to his village to attend to his wife who was suffering from throat cancer. She died the same year.
“In 2016, I traveled to the village to seek treatment for my wife who was suffering from throat cancer. She was also nursing our two-year-old baby girl. Months later, I was left a widower after my wife succumbed to cancer,” he said.
The officer, who was already suffering depression due to the death of his wife who left behind a two-year-old daughter, made his only companion since his aged parents could not understand what he was going through. He ended up being an addict.
Mourning, left to babysit his daughter who was then two years old and with the suspension letter in hand, Langat sought to drown his sorrows in alcohol.
“The suspension from my work couldn’t allow me to be employed by anyone else. The situation was very frustrating. I had no one to console me. I took to drinking any kind of alcohol, beer, busaa, changaa to try and forget my troubles,” he narrated.
To date – almost four years after Langat received his suspension letter, his employer is yet to provide a report over the matter.