On October 11, 1972, then Assistant Minister in the office of the Vice President and Home Affairs- Martin Shikuku is put on the spot by the former Wajir MP Abdi Ali Hirsi to explain why a government driver had failed to report the death of a 14-year-old girl.
Hirsi, who was related to the deceased teenager said that the case had taken more than two years and the driver, who was a brother to another former Wajir MP -Ahmed Abdi Ogle, was roaming scot-free.
“Mr. Speaker, Sir. I beg to ask the Vice- President and Minister for Home Affairs the following Is the Minister aware that a Miss Aisha Abdi Hadel aged 14 years fell from Government lorry No. GK 919B on 11th January, 1971 at noon. and died instantly? Is he aware that the driver of the vehicle and his co-driver removed the dead body from the scene of the accident to a nearby forest and never reported the matter to the Police. Why has Government not taken the driver to court or dismissed him for negligence, and paid. compensation to the parents of the deceased,” former MP Hirsi inquired.
Responding in the place of then Vice President and Minister for Home Affairs Daniel Moi, Shikuku narrated that the minister was aware of the incident and that investigations were ongoing.
“Mr. Speaker, Sir, I think I should keep the House abreast with what did take place. Mr. Speaker, Sir, on 11th January, 1971 Miss Aisha Abdi Habel was walking with her father along the Wajir-Habasweir road when her father waved a driver of a lorry with the registration number GK 9198 to stop. The driver stopped and the father asked him for a lift, and in the process of talking with the driver his daughter jumped into the rear of the lorry,” Shikuku stated.
He added: “The driver refused to give him lift and drove off unaware of the fact that Miss Aisha Abdi had boarded the lorry. On realizing that the father had not boarded the lorry. the girl jumped off the lorry while it was in motion without the knowledge of the driver and later her body was found a few yards from the road with a broken leg and skull.”
Shikuku was born in 1933 and joined politics at the age of 19. He was elected as MP for Butere constituency in 1963 at only 30 years and was appointed as assistant minister in the office of the Vice President before he fell out with the first President Jomo Kenyatta.
Shikuku was detained for three years after he claimed that KANU- then ruling party, was dead. He was released in 1978 after former President Daniel Moi took over power following the death of Jomo Kenyatta.