Magwanga air lifted

Kasipul Kabondo Member of Parliament Joseph Oyugi Magwanga and his two children are undergoing specialized treatment at Nairobi hospital following a car accident on Monday night that claimed the life of his wife.

The three were airlifted to Nairobi Tuesday morning from Salom hospital in Kericho following the fatal crush at Chepsir trading center along the Kericho Nakuru highway.

Ministers and members of parliament along with friends and relatives have continue to throng the hospital to give their condolences amid calls for increased surveillance on the roads.

Oyugi is said to have sustained serious injuries while his Toyota Land cruiser lost control at the Chepsir Trading centre along the Kericho- Nakuru highway.

The grisly road accident claimed the life of his wife injuring the MP's fiver daughters and a body guard.

The MPs wife Judith Atieno Magwanga, 38, is reported to not have been belted at the time of the accident and is suspected to have died from the impact when their car lost control and veered off the road before rolling severally into the deep valley near Chepseon market 30 km from Kericho town.

In a telephone interview, while still at the scene of the accident, the MP who escaped with minor injuries said a certain lorry overtook his car at top speed along a sharp bend before braking abruptly forcing him to drive off the road on the right to avoid ramming into it from the rear.

"A few minutes to 8pm as I was negotiating a sharp bend a few kilometers from Chepseon, a certain lorry overtook me in top speed, made abrupt brakes thereby blocking my way. I had no option but to go on the right direction, to avoid ramming into it since on my left was a hilly hedge. I went off the road and rolled severally before landing into a ditch of several metres downhill," he said.

The five children were rushed to Siloam hospital by good Samaritans who were the first to arrive at the scene.

The MP left on Monday morning to Nairobi to collect his children and drive them to his rural home in readiness for school opening after spending Christmas holiday in Nairobi with their mother.

Deputy Provincial Commissioner, South Rift, Bernard Leparmarai led traffic police from Kericho to the accident scene to retrieve the MP's car in a two hour operation and collected the body of the deceased wife which was eventually transferred to Matata Nursing Hospital mortuary in Oyugis.

A sombre mood engulfed Oyugis town and its environs when news of the accident spread among the constituents.

Leaders including Eng. Tom Okoko, former Director of Medical Services Prof. Richard Muga, Karachuonyo ODM branch chairman, Jack Nduri, and Oyugis deputy mayor Cllr. Evans Omondi led Kasipul Kabondo residents in mourning the sadden death of the MPs wife.

Hundreds of people lined up at the mortuary to have a glimpse of the body as boda boda operators wailed uncontrollably.

According to Kasipul Kabondo ODM branch chairman, Kennedy Okoth who spent the night at his bedside, the MP who was in a stable condition was later at midnight admitted at Siloam along side the children who included two from his relative.

Okoth also confirmed that staff from Lee Funeral Home was to collect the body of the late Judith Magwanga from Matata mortuary-Oyugis, for post mortem and preservation of the body.