The airbags on the side of third Nyeri governor Wahome Gakuru did not inflate when the accident that killed him occurred, a witness told an inquest on Tuesday.
Those on the driver's side were inflated on impact and he (the driver) escaped unhurt, Josephat Mwangi Maina, the first witness into the inquest on what led to the governor's death, said.
Maina was in charge of the governor’s personal security and lived with him in his rented home on Ring Road in Nyeri town.
Maina told chief magistrate Wendy Kagendo that Gakuru could not sleep in Nairobi as he was not in good terms with his girlfriend– one Wangui–for about a month.
He had residences in Runda and Hurlingham. His wife Catherine Wahome, with whom he separated five years earlier, lived in Runda.
He travelled from Nyeri on November 7, 2017, to Nairobi where he was to be a host in a morning show at both Kameme and Inooro TVs.
His county government Pajero was fuelled and cleaned, but the governor changed his mind and used a Mercedes Benz.
He had five vehicles for official use among them a Toyota Prado, the Pajero and the ill-fated Mercedes.
"He told me to wake him up at 4am but when I did, he requested me to let him sleep for about 20 minutes and wake him up at about 5am," Maina said.
The chase car driver Peter Mwaniki, an Administration Police constable, his bodyguard Mohamed Kaib and driver Samuel Kinyanjui arrived that morning.
The governor was seated on the front left side of the Mercedes while Maina was at the back right. He later gave way to Gakuru’s personal assistant Albert Gakuru whom they picked at Skuta Estate. The witness travelled in the chase car.
Losing the governor's car
He estimated that the vehicles could have been moving at 130 km/h. It was raining from Sagana to Kabati where the accidents occurred.
“We kept a distance of between 60 and 70 metres from the governor’s car,” he said. However, they lost track of his vehicle at Kabati.
“I saw something on the road and cautioned the driver that it could be somebody and told him to avoid running over him,” he said.
Moments later, they realised that it was a part of the governor’s vehicle which had been involved in an accident.
“We never witnessed the accident happen,” the witness said, adding that they only saw the Mercedes stuck on a guardrail with all its occupants inside. The engine was still running.
Maina said they opened the door for the governor’s PA and his bodyguard, but the governor was stuck inside.
He could not see the injuries the governor sustained but his PA had a left-hand injury while the bodyguard was injured on the right leg.
The governor’s PA was crying for help. He and bodyguard were rushed to hospital in the chase car.
Missing phone
The governor, he estimated, remained in the vehicle for about 40 minutes as they tried to remove him.
“A matatu arrived. We borrowed a panga from them to try to cut the roofing so we could remove him but we were unable to as the panga could not cut roof,” he said.
Help later came and the governor was removed and taken to Thika Level 5 Hospital in Wachira Keen’s Prado.
Wachira was Gakuru’s opponent in the 2013 elections. They both lost to Nderitu Gachagua.
Mwangi said he never saw the governor’s mobile phone.
“But I could call and it was still ringing one day later. We found two mobile phones with a police officer at Makuyu police station which were collected at the scene but the governor’s was not there,” he said.
Maina said he handed the governor’s jacket to his wife Catherine who arrived at the hospital later. The jacket had some documents.
Martha Waweru, a lawyer for Amana Africa organisation and the governor’s family, questioned Maina’s qualification as the governor’s security man.
Mwangi, a Standard 4 dropout, was at pains to explain how he qualified to be his security officer without relevant training.
Margaret Wangui Gakuru, the governor's sister, said Maina had also told her that he was a senior security officer from the DCI.
She said the family also knew him as a security officer and a bodyguard.
A Nyeri court had in March ordered that the public inquest starts afresh after Amana Africa applied to be allowed to cross-examine state witnesses.
Gakuru was a member of the organisation.
The inquest had been grounded for about a month due to the absence of magistrate Maisy Chesang’ who is accused of killing her husband Robert Chesang.
Three witnesses had testified.
They are Gakuru’s personal security assistant Maina and bodyguards Peter Mwaniki Maigua and Samson Lekol.
Kagendo directed that the inquest be conducted for seven days. The dates were fixed as June 25, 27 and 28 and July 2, 4, 9 and 11.
Edited by R.Wamochie
