If you were following the news from early on today especially on KTN News early this morning around 8a.m. you might have caught something that was conviniently ignored. First off Carol Nderi the reporter on location said that the Nyeri Governer died instantly on impact due to fatal injuries. Betty Kyalo then called the Nyeri Deputy Governer on phone to confirm Nderi’s report. The Deputy Governer disputed Nderi’s report by saying that the Governer was airlifted and even added that Dr. Gikonyo the heart specialist attended to him before he passed on. What caught my ear was a young man, mlevi mlevi hivi who was interviewed at the accident site and he said that the driver of the car was the governer’s son!
He further added that when they removed the governer from the car he was gone and had a big hole in his stomach. Could it be that maybe the governer had let his son drive but the boy lost control slammed into the barrier, panicked and slammed on the gas even harder! Thus ripping off the wheel and impaling the car into the metal guard rail and instantly killing his dad. It makes some sense considering that bodyguards are trained to drive fast in wet conditions and would thus be capable of handling a hurtling machine on wet tarmac e.g. Moi’s car accidents back in the day were on wet, slick roads. Kibaki’s accident was also on a rainy night if I recall correctly. Both individuals survived.
There was a young lady with a red woolen knit hat who said that when the car hit the barrier there were no cars around and she further confirmed that there was a boy in the car and he suffered cuts on his fingers. She then said that she even ducked the car’s tyre as it flew through the air above her covering her face with soil.
At lunch time on Citizen TV there was a nasty looking, brown fellow with black shades brooding over the girl with the red woolen hat. Nadhani aliambiwa amwambie to change the story. The bodyguard fellow spoke first (I’ve never seen a bodyguard interviewed on Kenyan TV) in swahili and proceeded to blame a guy on a motorbike for confusing the governer’s driver and causing the accident. He said he was in the chase car directly following behind the Governer’s car and at around 6.50a.m he saw a motorbike of the type used by butchers to transport meat riding recklessly on the road and the capable governer’s driver swerved into the barrier to avoid killing the butcher and to also avoid hitting a lorry. He (the bodyguard in the chase car) then drove past the accident scene and then reversed to see what had transpired behind him. He requested some cops to secure the occupant’s firearms and belongings and went to ‘check on’ the girl with the woolen hat to ensure she was alright because he assumed the tyre had taken off her head due the force with which it flew off. The girl was walking along the road and was the best placed witness to view the accident. The bodyguard forgot that he couldn’t have seen the tyre nor the girl as he sped past. He further added that the governer was ‘talking’ quite well and animatedly while in the car and he (the governer) said that he had only suffered minor injuries on his leg and otherwise he was okay. The governer was taken to hospital and the bodyguard added that he was quite surprised to learn that the boss had passed on. The bodyguard then stood over the girl with the woolen hat as she was being interviewed by Sylvia Chebet of Citizen TV. The girl then changed her story and said that there were 4 ‘men’ in the car and that soil from the flying tyre entered her eye. She then moved away to clean her eye and only returned to the scene when the people in the car were being removed! Sylvia Chebet of Citizen TV then moved away quickly lest the girl said much more. Earlier on on KTN NEWS the girl had said she was there as everyone was being helped out and she saw all their faces including the boy’s face… could they also have moved the boy from the driver’s seat to the rear seat? Some onlookers said the boy was in the back seat behind the driver.
Be that as it may huku ni Kenya na ukweli ni ngumu kujulikana. May the Governer’s soul rest in eternal peace.
Also Sonko in his presser said he is not happy with the fact that the deputy governer immediately assumed power after the governer’s demise. He also requested that the CID boss should investigate this accident seriously. Could it be that the governer’s ideas especially the reviving of the billion shilling Nanyuki railway line had sparked off his untimely demise? When he won he said categorically that he would not let people loot billions as they had done during Gachugua’s term. Blown out tyres and cars that suddenly become impossible to steer are not entirely unheard of in the Kenya Republic. Kitili Mwendwa suffered a freak accident and was interestingly also taken to Thika Hospital.