Questions over cutting of tree hit by Saitoti copter

By Ally Jamah

Mystery surrounds the tree that was hit by the copter that killed the late Internal Security Minister George Saitoti and his assistant in a crash in June.

The Commission of Inquiry probing the crash revisited Kibiku (area of the crash) on Monday where it heard that the tree had been cut down by a former police officer Salim Montet a few weeks after the crash.

Montet is among the few people who saw the ill-fated plane shortly before the crash and in his testimony, he said the copter hit the tree a few minutes before it crashed in a huge ball of fire in Kibiku Forest.

“I cut down the tree about two months ago to be used for construction of my house. I didn’t realise that it would have been needed in investigation,” he told commissioners led by Judge Kalpana Rawal on Monday.

Lawyers of the victims of the crash had expressed concern about the cutting down of the blue gum tree, which would have enabled investigators assess what impact it could have caused the plane and contributed to the crash.

Lawyer Kennedy Ogeto of the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) wondered why the tree in question was cut while other trees in the vicinity were left intact, but Montet insisted that there was no coincidence in the matter.

Only tree chopped

“That’s not the only tree that I cut down. There are so many others that I also cut down to be used in the house that I am currently constructing,” Montet said.

Lady Justice Rawal declined to indicate to journalists if her commission was satisfied with Montet’s explanation, saying their verdict would only be made in the final report of the inquiry.

Montet had indicated that before the chopper hit the tree, it had no fire or smoke trailing it, but after the hit, it disappeared into the horizon before returning with a trail of fire.

Saitoti’s briefcase

Asked by lawyer Evans Monari if he saw Saitoti’s briefcase when he arrived at the scene, Montet said he didn’t, adding that the fire was too intense and his mind was focused on saving pilot Nancy Gituanja, who was still alive at the time.

The briefcase is believed to have carried significant amounts of cash, which Saitoti was going to contribute to the fundraiser in Ndhiwa where he was headed.

In morning hearings on Monday, the commission heard from pilot Ephraim Chiwe of the Kenya Police Airwing who was in the ill-fated plane two days before the crash.

According to technical logs, Chiwe flew the plane to Voi, but in his oral testimony, he denied that saying that it was in fact flown by Gituanja.

He also claimed he did not see a failure of the Electronic Data Recorder that was seen flashing by other pilots. Chiwe had 15 hours on the Eurocopter. Shocking revelations have continued to surround the case.