Like a man possessed, he was all over the streets of Nairobi the whole day, crying out and marching restlessly and fearlessly - daring the police to shoot him dead.

And when the police declined the challenge, he stood still in the middle of the road, with his hands raised in apparent submission to torture for a national cause.

The heavily bearded Otieno Ombok braved police truncheons, clouds of tear gas and fierce jets of water from the anti-riot trucks as his comrades took to their heels. Pictures of him standing up to the police shouting "ua! ua! (kill me! kill me!)" remain some of the enduring images flashed on newspaper pages and a host of television stations following the recent street riots in Nairobi over the constitution review process.

What the police might not have realised is that the official of the Chemi Chemi ya Ukweli pressure group was resilient and quite at home with the chemi chemi (Kiswahili for water fountain) circumstances he was being subjected to.

Off the streets and away from the running battles, Ombok comes through as humble and soft-spoken. The bushy visage might remind one of revolutionaries and rebels such as Fidel Castro, Sam Nujoma, Samora Machel and Jonas Savimbi. It also makes him stand out in the crowd.

Ombok, who trained in journalism at Tanzania's St Augustine University, says he cutivated the heavy beard as a statement of "defiance and protest".

But just why is he so passionate about the constitution review issue to the extent risking his life? "I am bitter because I offer financial support to many people who have been neglected by the Government because of the current constitution which encourages corruption, police brutality, selective justice and lack of basic rights and needs like health care, housing, education, land and employment," says Ombok. He is the community policing and advocacy coordinator at Chemi Chemi ya Ukweli, who aim to reduce violence amongst the civil society during the constitution review process.

The 37-year-old activist, who comes from Bondo District, Nyanza Province, is married to Christine Wandera, who he says is very supportive and a believer in non-violence.

"In fact she would have been on the frontline only that she had to take care of our three young ones. But she was on at hand to take me to hospital and nurse my injuries," he says.

The battle-hardened Ombokhas participated in mass action campaigns across the globe, including the US and a host of European and Asian countries.

One of his memorable assignments was in Thailand last year where protesters managed to stop the government from cutting down trees. In 2001, alongside other members of the civil society across the world who are opposed to globalisation, he was part of the week-long protest in Seattle, USA, to that nearly shut down the World Trade Organisation ministerial conference.

Back home, Ombok has been involved in virtually all known street protests. He cut his teeth in civil action with Nobel Peace laureate, Prof Wangari Maathai, in the late 1980s during the fight to secure the Freedom Corner at Nairobi's Uhuru Park from the Kanu government.

He has since then been involved in all subsequent rallies, including demonstrations to press for a new constitution in 1999 where PCEA cleric, the Rev Timothy Njoya, was clobbered. Ombok says streets protests is an art that must be approached and organised carefully. But, quoting Mahatma Gandhi and Jesus Christ, he stresses non-violence.

During the recent Nairobi street riots, Ombok was part of the planning committee of the people's movement for a people-driven constitution which brought Citizens' Movement, Yellow Movement, Katiba Watch and Chemi Chemi Ya Ukweli, among other groups, pushing for a people-driven constitution as enshrined in the Bomas Draft

However, owing to his active role in the street riots, Ombok has now opted to get rid of his trademark beard "for personal and security reasons." He says that during and immediately after the riots, "I become an instant target of the police and I had to immediately do something about my looks. This change is only but temporary," he told Sunday Nation.

Before proceeding to university, Ombok, who sat for his "A" level examination at Baringo High School, also taught at Uyawi Secondary School in Bondo.

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