A Muslim teacher in Kenya who protected Christians on a bus after it was attacked by Islamist militants has been posthumously honoured for his bravery. Salah Farah was shot in the attack in north-eastern Kenya in December and later died from his bullet wound. The insurgents told the Muslims and Christians to split up but he was among Muslim passengers who refused to do so.
President Uhuru Kenyatta said he was awarding the Order Of The Grand Warrior to Farah “for his act of courage”. It is one of the country’s top honours and is awarded by the president for exemplary service to the country.
Kenyatta made the announcement during his state of the union address in parliament. He said that he was proud that Kenyan had “refused to be divided by terrorism”. In previous attacks in the area, Somalia-based al-Shabab militants have killed Christians and spared Muslims.
The bus was packed with about 60 passengers travelling from the capital, Nairobi, to the town of Mandera when it was forced to stop on December 20 by gunmen firing shots.
Muslim women quickly offered Christian women scarves to cover their heads when they were ordered off the bus near the village of El Wak on the Somali border.
Farah, the deputy head of the Mandera township primary school, told Kenya’s Daily Nation newspaper that the Muslim passengers had confronted the gunmen.
“We asked them to kill all of us or leave us alone,” he said.
Altogether three people died at the scene of the incident, including two passengers – one of whom had tried to run away.
Farah died a month later in the capital, Nairobi, during surgery.
