Joseph Kamotho recalls his rescue during US embassy bombing

Cabinet Minister Joseph Kamotho beingcarried by his security aides from the Co-operative House after the US Embassy bombing on August 7, 1998. [PHOTO: FILE]

Joseph Kamotho, 72, was Kenya’s Trade minister at the time of the attack. He was hosting US Ambassador Prudence Bushnell in his 16th floor Co-operative House offices when the bomb went off.

The picture of his bloodied face as he was carried out of the building to the hospital made the front pages of local newspapers and became the image of the attack that shook the nation.

Mr Kamotho, the former MP for Kangema and Mathioya constituencies, exited from public life after the 2002 elections although he attempted a comeback in the The National Alliance party primaries for the Murang’a Senate seat. He lost to Kembi Gitura in the 2013 General Election.

The former minister spoke with The Standard and reflected on that tragic day 16 years ago.

Q: Where were you on that day?

I was hosting the US Ambassador in my office and we had been discussing trade issues between our two countries. The discussions were over and we were having coffee when we heard something that sounded like a bomb, which was followed by a second huge explosion.

We all reacted as human beings - emotionally - because we did not know what was happening.

My security detail jumped to my protection. I was very afraid.

My first instinct was to run for my life and try and find a way out of the place. I was injured in the explosion. My security team carried me down the staircase all the way to the ground floor. It was the longest journey of my life.

I remember when we reached downstairs, I was put in a vehicle that drove straight to Nairobi Hospital where I found my son Charles and other family members waiting for me. Charles was the first family member I saw and he is a medical doctor, which was reassuring.