A scheduled public inquest into the death of former Nyeri Governor Wahome Gakuru aborted at the Nyeri law courts after the magistrate presiding over the matter was held under police custody over the recent killing of her husband.
Senior Resident Magistrate Maisy Chesang could not appear for the session after she was arrested along with other suspects in connection with the murder of her estranged husband lawyer Robert Chesang at their matrimonial home in Athi River, Machakos County.
The magistrate was expected to commence the hearings of the inquest on 16th of January to establish the circumstances that led to the death of the late governor after he was involved in a grisly road accident at Kabati area along the Nyeri-Nairobi highway on the 7th of November 2017,
Following the new development, the state applied to have the hearing deferred to a later date.
Senior Resident Magistrate, Ruth Kefa, allowed the application and directed the matter to be mentioned on March 20 for more directions.
At the start of the inquest, three witnesses led by the late governor’s private personal assistant Josphat Maina and two bodyguards, Corporals Peter Maigua and Samson Lekol gave an account of what transpired on the fateful day.
Gakuru met his death when his official car, a Mercedes E250, hit a guardrail that tore into the car from the front passenger seat where the governor was seated and exited through the boot.
The witnesses told the court that following the crash, the governor stayed at the scene for more than 40 minutes bleeding profusely before any help could arrive.
During the cross examination by Senior Assistant Director of Public Prosecution Peter Mairanyi, Corporal Lekol who was in the governor’s chase car said his blood was flowing through the guard rail as they struggled to rescue him.
Lekol had said that the vehicle was travelling at a speed of about 130 km per hour since the county boss was in a hurry to attend a live television show with a local station.
The officer further said it was misty throughout the journey from Nyeri town and the road was slippery following heavy rains that were pounding many parts of the country at the time.
The crash according to the witnesses occurred when the governor’s driver, Samuel Kinyanjui, overtook a lorry and the vehicle skid occasioning it to ram into the guardrail.
The court heard that the governor was calm as members of the public who had turned up following the crash struggled to free him. The witnesses said the guardrail had torn through his body on the hips and back.
The governor was accompanied by his personal assistant, Albert Gakuru and a security guard identified as Ahmed Khaliff Abdi in his vehicle according to witnesses. The two escaped death but suffered serious with injuries.
Kinyanjui who was initially driving a county ambulance, had driven the governor for three weeks prior to the fatal crash.
The state has lined up 20 witnesses in the inquest.
By Samuel Waititu
