City billionaire sets social media alight with fatal motor accident

Joel Kamau Kibe (L) Scene from the accident in Runda Estate, Nairobi. PHOTO | COURTESY | MASHADA.COM 

By VICTOR JUMA, vjuma@ke.nationmedia.com

In Summary

• Mr Kibe got himself in trouble when he rammed into a security barrier in Nairobi’s upmarket Runda Estate, killing a guard.
• It is not the first time Mr Kibe has been involved in a road accident having crashed his Toyota Lexus along Kiambu Road in July 2007, causing it to be written off.
• In Cliff Ombeta, the businessman has a skilled lawyer who has specialised in high profile criminal cases, including that of the controversial Mombasa-based Akasha family.
• While other CMC directors had to resign in the firm's buyout, Mr Kibe has continued to serve as director in the motor firm.
• Mr Kibe has represented Mr Kenyatta in fundraising events in his rural Kandara village.

Nairobi businessman Joel Kamau Kibe, who fired up social media following his involvement in an incident on Monday morning, is a powerful but covert operator in top class investment and political circles.

Mr Kibe, who was expected in court yesterday but did not appear, got himself in trouble when he rammed into a security barrier in Nairobi’s upmarket Runda Estate, killing a guard.

His appearance in court aborted after he was allowed to seek medical care for a few days, according to his lawyer, Cliff Ombeta.

Mr Ombeta said his client had fractured two ribs in the accident that badly damaged the white Range Rover Vogue he has been driving since 2012 when he was appointed the chairman of motor dealer CMC Holdings.

The businessman later relinquished the chairmanship and remained a director of the company after it was taken over by Dubai-based Al-Futtaim Group.

Mr Kibe, who speaks bluntly, is not new to controversy and the latest case is expected to put his pocketbook and political network to test.

It is not the first time Mr Kibe has been involved in a road accident having crashed his Toyota Lexus along Kiambu Road in July 2007, causing it to be written off. The vehicle had been comprehensively insured for Sh6.6 million.

Mr Kibe subsequently raised a claim with the insurer but the two parties disagreed over the settlement, prompting the businessman to sue the Kenyan Alliance Insurance Company.

The Nairobi High Court ruled in favour of Mr Kibe in 2009, ordering the insurer to pay him Sh6.5 million being less the excess fee of Sh100,000.

In Mr Ombeta, the businessman has a skilled lawyer who has specialised in high profile criminal cases, including that of the controversial Mombasa-based Akasha family.

While the decision ultimately lies with the courts, Mr Kibe’s comments moments after the accident have drawn public opprobrium.
The businessman’s latest involvement in an accident, though tragic, would perhaps have passed quietly had it not been for the video footage that captured him speaking at the scene.

Mr Kibe is shown in the video making comments in Swahili to the effect that his car had been damaged and so everyone involved had suffered.

Many viewers of the footage wondered in social media whether the businessman made the remarks with the full knowledge of what had transpired.

A friend of Mr Kibe’s, who did not want to be quoted, said he was probably not in full control of his senses in the wake of what had happened.

Mr Kibe was heading to his home in Runda Estate where he has lived for many years