20/05/2025
For almost 30 years the late Dr Jerome Okech Aliker operated a dental clinic on Wabera Street. He was a very popular dental surgeon in Nairobi, and had a palatial house in Muthaiga.
Actually when he fled to Nairobi in 1972, he rented a house in Hurlingham and was a next door neighbour to his long time Makerere friend, Mwai Kibaki.
The following year (1973) he bought his own house in Muthaiga where he settled with his family. He inspired his friend Mwai Kibaki who also moved from Hurlingham to Muthaiga where for the second time they became immediate neighbours sharing a fence.
Aliker lived in Nairobi until 1996, when he decided to return to Uganda after Museveni appointed him Minister of State for Foreign Affairs.
In that position, he played a prominent role in bringing Muammar Gaddafi out of Western isolation following the Lockerbie bombings.
Gaddafi was desperate to have the two Libyans who were arrested in connection with the Lockerbie bombings to be released.
For this reason he lobbied many governments, including the Israeli government. He also went to Museveni as Chairman of the OAU and asked him if he could talk to the Americans.
Aliker recalled in an interview with Dr Sue Onslow of Institute of Commonwealth Studies:
"Museveni had no connection with the Americans, so he called me and he asked me to go and plead with the Americans to allow the case to be transferred to the UK. I remember telling him, 'Sir, I have succeeded in doing many things for you, but this one is going to be difficult because American public opinion is very much against the Libyans.”'
But Museveni told Aliker, “Oh, well, you just go and add your little voice.”
Aliker went on:
"So, I called a friend in Washington who organised for me to meet with people from the CIA, and I was shocked – I made the request and they said, 'We have no objection transferring the case to the UK, because British law is the same as ours.' And they said, 'We will allow this case to be transferred to the UK.' And as I got up to leave, they said to me, 'This time we are not going to shoot the messenger. We would have liked to shoot the sender.'
"Anyway, when I went back and told Museveni, he said, 'You see, I told you.'And two days later I was on the plane with him to Tripoli and there started my contact with Gaddafi. Because no sooner had the case been transferred to the UK than Gaddafi shifted the goal posts and wanted the case heard elsewhere.
"Later, Museveni took me with him to the US to meet George W Bush, and Bush introduced Condoleezza Rice as the adviser, and Museveni introduced me to George Bush as his adviser. So, George W Bush said, shaking my hand, 'Ah, you and Condie will work together very well.'
"So, when the meeting ended, Ms Rice said to me, 'We’d like to see you in Washington, when can you come?” I said, 'Anytime.' She said, 'Tomorrow?'I said, “Yes.”
"So, the next day, I went to the White House and we sat down with Condoleezza Rice and she started telling me, 'The President told your President the following: Tell Gaddafi to denounce terrorism; tell Gaddafi to denounce weapons of mass destruction; tell Gaddafi to accept responsibility for Lockerbie, and to pay compensation.'
"And while we were talking, the President walks in: 'How are you guys getting along?'And Condoleeza Rice said, 'I’m telling Martin what we discussed.' So, George W Bush said, 'You go tell that cowboy to behave.'
"So, I left the White House, flew back to Uganda, and I reported to President Museveni. Three days later, he said, 'You are travelling to Tripoli.' We got to Tripoli and, after the formalities in the tent – the famous tent – Gaddafi told everybody else to leave except my President, myself and himself. And, suddenly, Gaddafi could speak English!
"My President said to Gaddafi, 'My minister here has been to Washington and he has told me something that I want him to tell you himself.' So, I repeated what the Americans said: denounce terrorism; denounce weapons of mass destruction; accept responsibility for Lockerbie, and pay compensation.
" So, Gaddafi replied, 'Number 1: terrorism. I denounce terrorism – because they wanted to kill me, I killed them. 2: weapons of mass destruction. I don’t have any. I have intercontinental ballistic missile of 2000 km range, in case my neighbours cause trouble. Compensation – we will pay.
"We went back to Uganda. I was sent back to Washington. I went and saw Condoleezza Rice and told her what Gaddafi had said. 'What about responsibility?' she asked. I said, 'He didn’t say anything.' She said, 'You go back and ask him to accept responsibility.' I went back – this time by myself. Directly. Gaddafi did not accept responsibility. I went back to the White House twice. The third time, Condoleezza Rice said, 'Martin, we love you very much, but unless Gaddafi accepts responsibility please don’t come back.' So, God came into play. The Court in The Hague found one man guilty, one man innocent. So, Gaddafi says, 'He is a Libyan, we cannot abandon him.' That was his way of saying, 'We accept responsibility.'
"All this time, I was shown the cheque for compensation: $10 million per person. The person in charge was Moussa Koussa, who jumped ship just before Gaddafi was killed. And he was my contact man."
Via: Odhiambo Levin Opiyo
