Fredrick Masinde.
The year was 1994. Seven by-elections were taking place across the country on June 27, with Mathare being one of the constituencies.
The odds were in favour of Fredrick Masinde, the Ford-Kenya candidate who had succeeded in overturning the victory of Ford-Asili’s Macharia Muraya.
June 27 was a Monday. At 8am that Sunday, three vehicles were involved in a collision. It was an “accident” that many found suspicious as it involved Masinde.
From various accounts, he was in a taxi with his brother Richard Wafula on Ngong Road. Witnesses said car, heading towards the City Centre from Adams Arcade, collided head-on with another vehicle and was rammed by another from behind.
“According to police, the taxi was descending on Ngong Road towards City Mortuary when the it tried to overtake a bus and lost control, veering to the right side of the road,” reported the Daily Nation of August 23, 1994.
“As the driver tried to bring back the car on the road, he banged head-on into an oncoming Peugeot 505.”
The crash was near Nairobi Baptist Church, about 340 metres from where Kasipul MP Charles Ong’ondo Were was shot dead on Wednesday evening.
Charles Ong'ondo Were, MP for Kasipul, was killed at a red light. His killers escaped on a motorcycle.
The spot is on the other side of the roundabout, with the City Mortuary – now Nairobi Funeral Home – staring silently.
Masinde and Wafula were critically injured. A photo published by the Daily Nation showed a shoeless and bleeding Masinde seated on the ground. A photo of him taken that evening showed him bandaged on the head and chest.
Mathare voters went to the polls on Monday. Masinde died at Nairobi Hospital around noon.
He would be declared the winner of the by-election. The of June 28, 1994 reported that Masinde was “the first Kenyan to win a parliamentary seat posthumously”.
Masinde’s story has been refreshed by Were’s death. In both, questions emerged and there were reports of the MPs being trailed. Ford-Kenya officials said Masinde was being trailed by “unknown people” for two days before the fatal collision.
Were had complained from as early as February that he was being trailed by “hired goons”.
Masinde’s allies said he was being pursued by the then-ruling party, Kanu, which wanted him to defect. In fact, Masinde had announced his abandonment of the Ford-K ticket some days to the vote, though he changed his mind after a meeting convened by Mr Raila Odinga and other party officials.
In the two incidents, the other occupants of the cars survived. Mr Wafula and the driver escaped death narrowly.
During the case in which the driver was accused of causing the death of Masinde by dangerous driving, a witness talked of the possibility of the vehicle having been shot at.
Mathare by-election candidate Fredrick Masinde and Lang'ata MP Raila Odinga campaign in Kasarani.
Lawyer GB Akhaabi said there was “evidence that the rear windscreen of the taxi was broken, but the prosecution is unable to say what broke it” as reported in the Daily Nation of March 24, 1995.
“It was possible that the car might have been shot at,” the lawyer told the court, as he added that authorities had not established what caused the taxi to veer off the road.
The taxi driver would later be jailed for three years. Principal Magistrate Jane Ondieki also disqualified him from driving for three years.
The court said there was no dispute that a collision occurred and that the driver was to blame. Mr Wafula’s testimony was relied on in convicting the taxi driver.
The area around the City Mortuary roundabout has witnessed several politics-related attacks over the years.
In 2014, National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang’ula, who was then the senator-elect for Bungoma, reported that he was attacked a few minutes to 11pm on January 8, 2014.
Forensic experts at Kilimani Police Station inspect the car belonging to Bungoma Senator-elect Moses Wetang'ula that was reportedly shot at along Ngong Road.
Mr Wetang’ula said he was on his way from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport to his home in Karen.
Shots were apparently fired from a vehicle that was parked across the road, which shattered the windscreen and grazed Mr Wetang’ula’s car roof.
A month earlier, Mr Wetang’ula had won a by-election, defeating Mr Musikari Kombo, Mr David Makali and Mr Bifwoli Wakoli.
“This is an assassination attempt. Police have to move with speed and open investigations into the matter,” Mr Wetang’ula said.
Police, however, disputed that account and said the vehicle was not shot at but had hit an advertisement banner.
