'My hand was tucked inside my stomach': Gakuru's ex-PA recounts deadly accident

Albert Muchiri, the personal assistant to former Nyeri Governor Wahome Gakuru, has for the first time narrated how his life changed, after the accident that claimed his boss's life.

In an interview with the Daily Nation, Muchiri said that after the accident, doctors had to tuck his injured hand inside his belly, before any surgery could be conducted.

This according to him was to give the hand time to recover and form new tissues for blood supply.

"The doctors had to tear my belly open and tuck in my hand inside before they began surgeries to separate the fingers since after the accident, my fingers were squeezed into a fist," he told the Daily Nation.

The hand stayed there for a month before surgery to separate his hand, which had been squeezed into a fist.

Muchiri said that he was asleep when the accident occurred and only found himself in hospital two days later.

"I do not remember the crash, I came to myself on a Thursday in a hospital bed. My head was bandaged. I could not move my legs and my left hand was tied to the rib," Muchiri said.

The accident occurred on November 7, 2017 after only 77 days in office, as he and Gakuru were headed to Nairobi for the late governor's  interview with Kameme FM and Inooro TV.

The accident occurred at Kabati on the Nyeri-Nairobi highway.

An inquest into the matter was ordered by the Director of Criminal Investigations, George Kinoti in 2019 and since then, various witnesses have been testifying, including his driver at the time, his security officers and officers who were first to arrive at the scene of the accident.

The inquest sought to establish the circumstances that led to the crash.

It had initially stalled after presiding magistrate Maisy Chesang was arrested over accusations of complicity in the murder of her husband, lawyer Robert Chesang.

Witnesses said the crash occurred when the governor’s driver, Samuel Kinyanjui, overtook a lorry and skid before ramming into the guardrail.

Gakuru was accompanied by his personal assistant, Muchiri and a security guard identified as Ahmed Abdi. The two escaped death but suffered serious injuries.

 

Edited by CM