- Kibaki’s vehicle had hit a matatu, killed two people on the spot, rolled over a ditch and landed in a deep manhole that had been dug during some construction
- Supporters in their thousands thronged Nairobi streets to welcome Kibaki back home. Kibaki's convoy took three hours to reach the CBD
It was late November and campaigns for the December 27, 2002 general election were hitting fever pitch.
Narc candidate and Opposition leader Mwai Kibaki left Mwingi for Nairobi in the evening for a crucial 7pm meeting at Muthaiga club.
Kibaki had toured Mwingi and Kitui where he was hosted by politicians Kalonzo Musyoka and David Musila for two days of campaigns.
When the rallies were concluded late on his last day of the visit, he jumped into his Range Rover and sped off.
According to former Kitui Senator Musila, who was part of the convoy, Raila Odinga’s car followed Kibaki’s in tow.
As they made their way, he overtook Raila and was next to Kibaki’s.
At some point, he said during a past interview, Kibaki outpaced him only to crash at Makutano junction along Nairobi-Machakos highway.
When Musila reached the junction, he saw a crowd milling around the accident scene, with two bodies lying beside the road.
One of his aides told Musila that they stop to see what had happened, but he told him to drive on to catch up with their presidential candidate.
At the second asking, he allowed the aide to take a look and report to him. The aide came back with the bad news.
“It’s Munene’s car... its Kibaki’s car [involved in the crash],” the aide said.
Kibaki’s vehicle had hit a matatu, killed two people on the spot, rolled over a ditch and landed in a deep manhole that had been dug during some construction.
Musila started to frantically organise for a way to save the life of their presidential candidate. He arranged with Amref flying doctors to send an ambulance to take him to Nairobi Hospital.
“Amref said an ambulance would not be available immediately, but not later than 30 minutes. But I told them I could not wait,” Musila, said.
He decided to carry the badly injured Kibaki in his car, engaging him in talk as they approached Nairobi.
Later, Kibaki was airlifted to a London hospital under the care of Dr Dan Gikonyo.
The Narc coalition, panicked following the accident, fearing that the setback would hand the Kanu flag bearer Uhuru Kenyatta a mileage to defeat them.
Even worse for them, Kibaki’s running mate in the polls Kijana Wamalwa was also admitted at the same London hospital after he fell ill during a foreign trip.
The responsibility of the presidential campaign fell on the shoulder of Kibaki's allies at the time, led by then-Lang’ata MP Raila Odinga.
Raila had to suspend his own Lang’ata campaigns to concentrate on Kibaki's election while the candidate was out of the country.
Some sources say Raila used his personal resources, not just for the campaign, but also to ensure Kibaki had the best care to be back on his feet.
Gikonyo, who led a team of doctors in the medical evacuation trip with Kibaki, told a local TV station that when they engaged Kenya Airways to fly him to London, the airline was not enthusiastic to help.
In fact, he said, the airline only offered seats at the back of the plane.
“The most difficult bit was the flight to London. Because here we are with a very important client who is injured and we have to travel with him to England and we didn’t have our own control,” said Gikonyo, then a consultant at Nairobi Hospital.
Gikonyo said that with the airline insisting on the back seats, Raila said: “We cannot put our president at the back of the plane. We must put him in first class.”
At the demand, KQ asked that they pay for the first class seats.
“All these things were done by Raila Odinga and he said that if we must pay, then we will pay, and we must get seats at the front of the plane,” the doctor said.
The focus turned on how to get the stretcher that Kibaki lay on to the front seats of the plane as the aisle was not wide enough.
“I still remember; I have a lot of respect for Raila. He came with some young men, some eight or nine of them, and they carried that stretcher across that aisle to the front on their knees. They went on their knees, carried the stretcher with their hands up and carried it from the entrance to the front,” he said.
Kibaki responded well to treatment in London and returned after 10 days to a hero's welcome in Nairobi on December 14, 2002.
Supporters in their thousands thronged Nairobi streets to welcome Kibaki back home. Kibaki's convoy took three hours to reach the CBD.
The candidate sat in a wheelchair with his neck supported by a brace. Next to him on the open-top van was Dr Gikonyo. The supporters congregated in Uhuru Park for a prayer meeting.
Two weeks later, Kibaki won the election in a landslide, the first time ever an Opposition candidate had defeated Kanu.
He was inaugurated on a wheelchair, but that did not dampen the spirits of tens of thousands of supporters who returned to Uhuru Park to watch the handover of power.