KQ stowaway: Cold case or cover up?

Questions have emerged regarding a stowaway who is believed to have clung onto a Kenya Airways flight from Nairobi only to drop from the London skies.

The man is thought to have found his way into the plane's undercarriage at Jomo Kenyatta International airport before embarking on an 8,000-mile overnight flight to London

The identity of the man has not been confirmed and the London-based Sky News which last week claimed to have conclusively identified him retracted the story yesterday. They said "our reporting was founded on misleading information".

"We no longer have conclusive evidence that he worked for the cleaning company Colnet and we apologise to Colnet for suggesting the stowaway was one of their employees," Sky said, raising the question why was the media house misled? Was it deliberate?

The report identified the stowaway as airport worker Paul Manyasi and, according to Sky, the story was based on corroborated interviews with people who identified as friends, relatives and colleagues of Paul Manyasi - including his father.

But in an interview with the Nation on Wednesday, that man admitted misleading Sky News. According to the Nation story Isaac Shivonje is alive and on remand.

A senior aviation official introduced a new twist into the saga yesterday by claiming the stowaway was a Somali man.

"The man is not Kenyan, I can tell you for sure," the official said.

If indeed this is true, then it could constitute a huge security breach by the Kenyan authorities.

Until the Sky News investigation, Kenya Airports Authority which is responsible for the security and general management of airports had remained silent about the stowaway.

Kenya Civil Aviation Authority, also a key player, said nothing.  Government spokesman Cyrus Oguna told the BBC the  Sky News report was "fake news" while  Kenya Airways has maintained studious silence, raising questions whether there is a cover-up.

Ordinarily, according to aviation experts, all pilots are required to check every part of the flight before taking off.  So, why didn't the KQ  pilot not spot a man hiding in the landing gear?

At what point did the stowaway enter the plane?

Yesterday, the same institutions refused to comment on the story instead referring the Star from office to the other.

"The first thing you should ask is, if the stowaway was not a cleaner how did he access the high-security area like the runway. Didn't the security take his fingerprint? Whose pass did the man use ?," paused a pilot at the Wilson Airport. 

CEDRIC SHIVONJE OR PAUL MANYASI?

Sky News said the stowaway was Paul Manyasi who reportedly worked for Colnet, the cleaning company. But who was this man and did his alleged father mislead Sky News deliberately? Was it a cover-up by government officials? And who is Cedric Shivonje Isaac?

The latter name came to light after the purported father of the stowaway was interviewed by Sky News, only to retract his statement a day after the investigation aired.

Issac Beti claimed his son was alive and his name is Cedric Shivonje Isaac, who was being held in police custody.

Both KAA and Colnet, the cleaning company which he was said to have worked for, have issued statements saying they are not aware of anyone by that name, and in particular that a security pass was never issued to a Paul Manyasi.

Is there more to this story than meets the eye?

Shivonje is reported to have been charged in a Kibra law court for defiling an underage girl. But those records were not immediately unavailable yesterday and some court staff disputed the claims.

 A senior judicial staff official  who spoke to the Star  said that Isaac Shivonje revealed to her that he was a university student.

“He told me that he was a university student and that is what I know,” the source said.

The source revealed that Shivonje was facing the charges before a Kibera magistrate.

"I cannot say that the file is in court but it must be in the registry. Maybe it is there. Don't mention  my name in the  story because I'm not very sure if the file is around."

The source said Shivonje was detained at Industrial area prison after he failed to raise the bond he was awarded.

Another source told the Star it was difficult to confirm that Shivonje was charged at a Kibera court.

In an interview with Nation, Shivonje claimed he was arrested on August 7 and charged on August 13 at a Kibera court but the Star confirmed his name was not in the original list of those who were charged that day.

Normally, suspects are held in police cells for at most 24 hours but according to Shivonje, he was held for over four days. A police officer who requested unanimity told the Star they never got a file with Shivonje's name.