Unsung hero of Kenya post-poll chaos

Had it not been for this man’s bravery, the number of deaths during the post-election violence in 2008 could have been higher.

Although his name may not ring a bell to many, passengers in a Star Liner bus headed for Mombasa from Kisii in early 2008 remember him well.

He saved their lives from bloodthirsty groups of youths armed with machetes, stones and slings.

Mr Paul Karuri drove his passengers through 50 barriers on flat tyres and shattered windscreens to safety from Kericho to Kisii town.

Mr Karuri , who quit driving following the traumatising incident, will not be there to see justice done to the victims.

He passed on last week and was laid to rest on Friday at his Thangira home in Makuyu, Maragua District.

According to his wife, Josephine Wayua, her husband died of pneumonia on January 19.

“He survived arrows and machetes in 2008 but did not live long enough to see justice for the post-election violence victims,” said the widow this week.

On Thursday, mourners flocked the home of the unsung hero to pay tribute to him.

“To me, this is a true Kenyan hero,” said Mr Waweru Mburu, the head of Citizen Radio, when he arrived at the home.

The then 56-year-old Mr Karuri’s brush with death mirrored the nightmare that thousands of Kenyans encountered on most roads in parts of the country that were ravaged by the violence.

At the height of the mayhem, which broke out on December 27, 2007, thousands of people were marooned upcountry or in towns, either fearing attacks from armed youths who had literally taken over most routes, or due to lack of transport to major towns including Nakuru and Nairobi after most bus companies parked their vehicles.

The most affected routes were those through Rift Valley, Nyanza and Western provinces, where bands of youths had erected “roadblocks” using huge boulders.

Vehicles were stopped and passengers interrogated to determine their ethnic communities. Those from the “wrong” communities were robbed and hacked to death.

During an interview after his ordeal, Mr Karuri said it was not his courage but divine intervention that saw him drive through the roadblocks to save his life and those of his passengers on the fateful night.