Ex-civic leader tells of 2003 tragedy that killed Yatta MP

A drowning incident on the evening of April 30, 2003, exactly 20 years ago, is not only etched in the memory of Mr Nahashon Musyoka Kinyua, it still frightens him as if it happened yesterday.

Mr Kinyua, a former councillor with the defunct Masaku County Council, miraculously survived the tragedy, and witnessed the monster snatch Yatta MP James Philip Mutiso.

The MP died alongside his driver and a female passenger after the vehicle they were travelling in was swept away by raging floods after it stalled in the middle of the notorious Ting’ang’a crossing on Mbakoni River in Machakos County.

The car – an old blueish Toyota Saloon car registration number KZL 344, which had been hired as a taxi by the MP, had five occupants including Mr Mutiso, Mr Kinyua, the driver, a lady passenger and her son.

The ex-councillor and the woman’s son survived by jumping out of the stalled car and turning back to the river bank.

Like Mr Kinyua, Mr Mutiso had been elected four months earlier as MP for Yatta constituency during the December 2002 General Election, on the then-ruling coalition Narc party ticket, which swept the Kanu regime out of power.

Mr Mutiso is said to have left Nairobi on that fateful Wednesday afternoon by the hired taxi and was traveling to his Ikombe rural home to prepare for his homecoming party which was to happen in two days.

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As the MP’s family marks 20 years of his death today, Mr Kinyua recounted the harrowing experience of escaping the raging waters after their car stalled midstream, and his lucky escape from the jaws of death.

In an exclusive interview with the Sunday Nation, Mr Kinyua narrated the pain of losing his bosom political friend on the eve of a mega rally to celebrate his election victory.

Mr Kinyua says having been elected the councillor for Ikombe ward, he was the MP’s representative at the county council and they used to consult on issues affecting the constituency almost daily, because they were not only neighbors but also close friends.

‘’At Masaku County Council, I was the chairman of Finance committee, and on that day I had a busy work schedule which included presenting the council’s annual budget estimates to a full council meeting and later hosting councillors for an informal session,’’ he explained.

According to the former councillor, it had rained heavily the previous night, and the rains resumed in the late afternoon as the council members gathered at Ikuuni hotel – a then popular joint in Machakos town – to brainstorm over coffee.

While at the hotel, the then Council chairman Mr Ngalatu Musau requested that they ride home together in his official car as both were headed in the same direction and he wanted to discuss upcoming council activities with him.

‘’At about 6pm, our MP, the late Mutiso, called and asked me to wait for him in Machakos because as his area councilor, he wanted me to be part of the planning committee for his homecoming event, which was to be attended by high ranking Narc politicians,’’ he explained.

Among those who had confirmed attending the party were then senior politicians in Narc coalition including the then cabinet ministers Raila Odinga, Roads, Kalonzo Musyoka, Foreign Affairs, Charity Ngilu, Health, and dozens of elected members of parliament, among many other dignitaries.

‘’After some consultations with the MP, we agreed that he would find me at Katangi market to allow me finish my discussions with the council chairman, and then he would pick me as we head to his home for the planning meeting,’’ he said.

Mr Kinyua explained that they left Machakos town some minutes past 8pm, accompanied by the then councillor for Kyua ward, a Mr Mutongoi, with the MP trailing them in another car.

Upon arriving at Katangi market, some 60 kilometres from Machakos town, the late MP found us waiting for him on the road side, and after briefly exchanging greetings, we parted with Mr Ngalatu, the council chairman, and I jumped into the MP’s car.

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‘’In the car, I found the MP seated in the front passenger seat with two other people – a woman and a young man in the rear seats. I became the fifth occupant sitting on the right back seat, the woman on the back left with her son in the middle,’’ recalled the ex-councillor.

The short distance journey from Katangi market to the Mbakoni River crossing took less than 10 minutes, and the MP was jovial and excited at the many leaders he was expecting at his party.

At the river, Mr Kinyua vividly remembers that the driver was a bit hesitant to cross, arguing that he was unfamiliar with the flooded river.

He also cautioned the late MP against crossing the overflowing river because it was at night and the river didn’t have a bridge or a concrete surface drift and that they were likely to get stuck.

However, the late MP insisted that there were guests waiting for him at his village home and urged the driver on saying they had been used to the flooding challenges.

‘’Suddenly, what we feared the most happened when the car got stuck in the middle of the river crossing and its engine went off amid the raging waters. Mr Mutiso got too terrified and at first refused to get out, hoping the car would reignite,’’ he narrated.

Luckily, Mr Kinyua and the young man managed to get out of the car as the rear right door opened more easily.

In the ensuing panic and confusion, he says, the MP suggested that they get a tractor from a nearby farmer to tow them but insisted on remaining inside the car, after his efforts to open his door proved futile.

Unknown to them, it was raining upstream and more floods were coming.

Mr Kinyua frantically rushed to seek help at nearby homesteads about 200 metres from the river where he mobilised several people to rush to their MP’s rescue.

‘’In those few anxious minutes, I could still see the lights of the car still stuck in the river bed as I mobilised people, shouting loudly for help. But as we descended back to the river, the car lights disappeared,’’ said the civic leader.

At the river bank, the hurriedly mobilised rescue team couldn’t see their MP’s car which they were supposed to pull from the mud, and the river waters had noticeably swelled.

Racing against time and hoping for a miracle, Mr Kinyua and his search team anxiously ran downstream in the midst of frightening darkness, to intercept the car or to see if they could hear a distress call.

‘’The car had clearly been swept away but I was in denial. The reality of losing our MP to drowning was too painful to bear, and at that moment, the shock at the turn of events was devastating,’’ Mr Kinyua said as he recounted how he walked to a nearby hill where his mobile phone could pick network signal and started calling friends, who alerted the police.

Mr Mutiso, then aged 53, and who was serving his first term in Parliament having quit the civil service the previous year, had become part of the statistics of lives claimed by flash floods and landslides.

The late MP’s family declined requests for interview saying media reports that the woman in the car was a traditional healer, and alleged discovery of witchcraft material, had tarnished their name.

According to Tom Musili, the family spokesman, the reports traumatised the family and added salt to injury during their time of grief. He dismissed the allegations of witchcraft as false. Police opened a public inquest into his death where more than 20 witnesses testified. A Machakos court ruled that the MP’s death was out of natural causes.

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