#147NotJustANumber campaign honours Kenyans in Garissa terror attack

No photo availableCIO Africa authorByStaff Writer
3 min read

Using the hashtag #147notjustanumber, Kenyans used social media to talk about the lives of the victims. They shared pictures of…

Termed as Kenya’s second deadliest attack after the al Qaeda
Termed as Kenya’s second deadliest attack after the al Qaeda attack that killed more than 200 people at the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi in 1998, the Garissa Terror Attack has left 148 Kenyans dead and has therefore attracted a global social media outcry.

Using the hashtag #147notjustanumber, Kenyans used social media to talk about the lives of the victims. They shared pictures of beaming faces, full of life and energy, in happier days. They talked about parents too shocked to speak after identifying their children’s bodies.

The #147NotJustANumber was started over by Ory Okolloh (@KenyanPundit) as a way to remember the 147 who lost their lives. The attack occurred on Thursday 2nd April 2015, when gunmen stormed the Garissa University College in Garissa, Kenya, killing at least 148 people, and injuring 79 or more.

The hashtag has been taken up by an uproar on twitter since Thursday, through the hashtag a YouTube channel has also been launched and a video posted in relation to the attack. The video starts with the Kenyan map indicating where Garissa is, then a text sent by one of the students in the campus as the attack went on followed by 14 people who lost their lives on the attack. The video ends with a number of #147NotJustANumber tweets being shown on the screen.

The attack comes over a year after the 2013 Westgate shopping mall killing, which left 68 people dead in Nairobi. The Somali Islamist group al-Shabaab has claimed responsibility for both attacks.

The gunmen took Over 700 students hostage, freeing Muslims and killing those who identified as Christians. The siege ended the same day, after four of the attackers were killed. Five men were later arrested in connection with the attack, and a bounty was placed for the arrest of a suspected organizer.

Here are some of the tweets:

Ory Okolloh Mwangi ‏@kenyanpundit: Please come with flowers today. #147notjustanumber vigil at Uhuru Park. Lend your support please.

John-Allan Namu ‏@johnallannamu: May it not take more lives for our collective conscience to be pricked and remain attuned to what’s going on #147notjustanumber

David McKenzie ‏@McKenzieCNN:#147notjustanumber #KOT I am going to be talking about this campaign on air. I would love to hear what this campaign means to you.

@AMLive:#147notjustanumber As the country marks the last day mourning the #TerrorAttacks What is you message to the victims?

Daily Nation ‏@dailynation: You can break our hearts, but you can’t break our spirit. #WeAreOne #147notjustanumber

SarahKimani ‏@sarahkimani: Some of Kenya’s best brains, #147notjustanumber.

Boniface Gitz ‏@iGitz: Dying of a terror attack should not be a common thing #147notjustanumber

Abi Mwachi M.D ‏@abimwachi: The peasant tea farmer who sold tea to educate his only son…now has his Sun buried with his son #147notjustanumber

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