Editor's Review

Wambugu was Kibaki's driver when they got into an accident in Machakos in 2002.

Until the 2002 near-fatal accident in Machakos, David Wambugu was the driver of Kenya’s Third President Emilio Mwai Kibaki.

The two met after Kibaki personally instructed GSU senior officers on the kind of driver he wanted.

Among the conditions Kibaki gave was that the driver was to be from his home area who he could easily communicate and trust owing to the nature of politics then.

After all, factors were weighed in, Wambugu was fronted as an Ideal candidate for the job.

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He served the late Kibaki for some years until the 2002 accident separated them. Just like Kibaki, the accident left him unconscious until he found himself in Nairobi Hospital after being attended to.
It is the events that unfolded after the accident that would spell doom in his career as a General Service Unit officer.

{President Mwai Kibaki's ex-bodyguard David Wambugu. IMAGE: COURTESY }

While still undergoing medication, Wambugu’s hospital bills were still being catered to by the President’s office considering that Kibaki still managed to win the elections after the 2002 accident.

Before the accident, Wambugu says the late Kibaki had granted him access to his private doctors who would treat him and his family. The Bills were sorted by Kibaki.

“Kibaki’s private Doctor Gikonyo used to treat me with my family. Even after the accident I used to visit him for medications and the bills will be paid by the State,” he said.

The accident saw him out of the President’s security details as he had to be reassigned to other roles as he continues with medication that he says he still undergoes to date.

Wambugu narrates that after being redeployed, his boss felt jealous of him because his hospital bills were being cleared by the President. He plotted his downfall.

He narrated that one time he was called by one of his bosses who questioned him who he was to have his hospital bill paid by the president yet he was not even a police commissioner.

He claims the boss threatened that he will sack him for appearing to be the president’s blue-eyed boy.

“The boss called me to ask; Who are you for the president to pay your hospital bill? I tried explaining to him but it was in vain. He told me he will sack me. I left his office but on the same day, he later called me at night and told me to sign for early retirement which meant I was now exiting the service,” he said.

According to Wambugu, he was not in support of his early retirement and the process did not follow the required procedure.

To date, he says he is yet to agree with the process even as he calls for justice considering that he still needs money to continue with his medication.

“The following day after I was told to sign, I found my exit papers from the service are ready. I have never agreed with that early retirement because it was unprocedural. It should not come from the top. It was supposed to be initiated by me also. The law requires it starts from the OCS. That is not the case,” he said.