Mystery, hard questions persist on fallen Senator Otieno Kajwang’s last moments By Oscar Obonyo Sun November 23rd 2014 A few hours before taking his last breath, Homa Bay Senator Otieno Kajwang’ was literally stuck within the Parliament precincts — without a car, bodyguard or personal assistant. An agitated Kajwang’ kept calling to find out when his car would pick him up. At one point, the Senator protested loudly to the surprise of those in his company at the Parliament’s bar, that he was getting late. “I think he would have left earlier had it not.been for this delay. He even prevailed upon me to stay on longer with him when I attempted to excuse myself,” recalls freelance journalist Byroernne Omondi, who spent time with Kajwang’ on Tuesday evening. Omondi says he was with the Senator between 6pm and 8:20pm before he eventually left for home, moments after they were joined by Mohammed Elmi, MP for Tarbaj constituency, and former minister for Northern Kenya and Semi-Arid Lands. On the same night, National Assembly Leader of Majority Aden Duale also spent a brief moment with Kajwang’. Contacted by The Standard On Sunday, Duale confirmed the encounter: “Yes, I was with him and Elmi at the members’ lounge and at the bar. We chatted a bit, and then I left him there at about 8.30pm because I was dashing for an interview on TV.” Different versions But that is as far as the true story of Kajwang’s last moments seems to go. The rest of the tale as pieced up by The Standard On Sunday is full of contradictions, is illogical and has conflicting timelines. For instance, according to Faith Vivian Ouma, who claims to be Kajwang’s other wife, she was called and informed of the Senator’s admission to Mater Hospital at 9pm. This account contradicts that of Siaya Senator James Orengo, who has stated that his late Senate colleague was driven by his wife Rose from their Runda home to Mater Hospital at about 10pm. Efforts to get clarification and further details from Orengo proved futile Saturday, as his cell phone went unanswered. Yet, still, according to the account of a parliamentary staff member, he served Kajwang’ with drinks up to about 9:30pm when he left. The employee, who declined to be named, confirmed that Kajwang’ was at the parliamentary bar from around 7pm and was taking “whisky, black label.” The parliamentary staff said after the end of the 9pm news bulletin, the former Immigration minister asked to sign for his bill. He had been having drinks separately in the company of Duale, Elmi and Omondi, among other people. If the parliamentary staff is to be believed, then Kajwang’ was not at The Mater Hospital by 9pm as stated by Faith. Alternatively, it is practically impossible that he would have left for his home in Runda and back to Mater Hospital over an emergency in less than 30 minutes. Even then, other relatively high-class facilities of Nairobi Hospital, Aga Khan and MP Shah, are closer to Runda than The Mater. Even more intriguing is that the Senator actually had no car that particular evening. Omondi remembers Kajwang’ asking his driver, bodyguard or mechanic, when the repairs on his car would be over. This begs the all-important question — in whose car did Kajwang’ leave Parliament Buildings? If it was by taxi, whose was it and who ordered for it? Where did they drive to from Parliament and just how did Kajwang’ find himself in Mater in South B area? Who drove him there? A few revelations by Omondi, who sat through with Kajwang’ during his last moments, offer a hint to some of the above questions. According to the journalist, the Senator received several calls, most of which he declined to respond to. He appeared to have been under some kind of pressure from people he was supposed to meet.
Posted on: Sun, 23 Nov 2014 05:45:21 +0000
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