A staffer working at the Narok County government has recounted how a boda boda puncture caused him to miss the helicopter flight that later crashed, killing Emurua Dikirr MP Johana Ng’eno and five others.
Geoffrey Bett 'GK Kechwo' described the incident as the saddest day of his life, saying a five-minute delay spared him from boarding the ill-fated chopper.
“I took a boda boda to Mara Rianta. It got a puncture, slowing my journey. And that is how I missed the deadly flight by five minutes,” Bett said.
He recalled that the rider’s words have remained with him since learning about the crash.
“The boda boda guy told me, ‘maybe there is a reason.’ That still rings in my mind, ‘maybe there is a reason.’”
Kechwo said his last conversation with the MP was brief but clear.
"Our last conversation was at 12:04 pm. We only spoke for 30 seconds, and he only told me, ‘go to Mara Rianta, let me find you there, we head to Mt Elgon,’” he narrated.
Ngeno posted himself early morning while inside the chopper flying over the swollen Mara River.
He had joined families and rescue teams at Mara Rianta in the search for two young men swept away by the Mara River.
Bett immediately set off to meet his boss, but fate intervened along the way.
“Fortunately for me, the bike that was carrying me got a puncture past Mpata, and I missed the flight by less than five minutes,” he said.
Bett expressed gratitude for what he described as a second chance at life.
“I thank God for giving me a second chance to live,” he said.
At the same time, he mourned the loss of a leader he described as both a boss and a friend.
“Pole sana, my boss and friend,” he added.
The helicopter later crashed at Chepkieb area in Nandi county at 4:45 pm, claiming the lives of Ng’eno and five others, in a tragedy that has shaken the nation.
For Bett, the events of the day remain difficult to process, a narrow escape intertwined with deep personal loss.
His account adds to the growing testimonies of those who were meant to be on the flight but missed it by minutes.
An Eldoret-based photographer has recounted a similar ordeal of how he narrowly escaped the helicopter crash.
As the country mourns the fallen MP and the other victims, Bett says the words spoken by the boda boda rider continue to echo in his mind, “maybe there is a reason”, a phrase that now carries profound meaning in the wake of tragedy.
Ngeno was serving his third term in Parliament, having first been elected in 2013.
The chopper is said to have encountered weather problems when it crashed.
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